The Suicide Prevention Survey 

This page discusses suicide and suicidal thoughts, which some readers may find distressing. Please take care while reading. If you need support, you can contact Samaritans (UK) on 116 123, or visit our support organisations page. 

What we want to find out

This project asks autistic people about their experiences of suicidal thoughts and feelings, and what changes are needed to help prevent suicide.

We also asked those who support autistic people, including people who have been bereaved, about their experiences, and what they believe needs to change.

Why we’re doing this research

Research shows that autistic people without learning (intellectual) disabilities are up to five times more likely to die by suicide than non-autistic people. Around 1 in 4 autistic people may attempt suicide at some point in their lives. In comparison, around 1 in 37 people in the general population may attempt suicide.

Despite these serious risks, very few studies have asked autistic people about their experiences, or what needs to change. There is very little research on how to prevent suicide in autistic people, and this project aims to address that gap.

Method

We developed a two-phase online survey, with input from autistic people and their families.

The first phase of the survey asked autistic people about:

We then completed qualitative analyses of these responses and grouped them into a smaller number of practical actions.

Phase two of the survey asked a larger group of autistic people and their supporters to:

Community engagement

This project was designed and implemented by a neurodiverse team and led by an autistic researcher. Autistic people and their supporters/allies have been involved throughout the project.

We sought and implemented feedback from autistic people and their supporters/allies in the design of the surveys in both phases, and to ensure our promotion of the surveys was sensitive and respectful. Community members also reviewed draft research papers, which we intend to use to drive policy impact, to assess if our messages were appropriate and beneficial for autistic people.

Their feedback led to extensive changes to the papers, including the language we used to describe ‘supporters/allies’, and around careful interpretation of sensitive findings.

Potential impact

There is very little research-led guidance on how to prevent suicide in autistic people. Our findings indicate that suicidal thoughts in autistic people are often linked by participants to pervasive and systemic inequalities, such as invalidation in healthcare settings, lack of access to diagnosis, and chronic victimisation.

Importantly, our findings also highlight potential solutions to the suicide crisis in autistic people – actions prioritised by autistic people and their supporters/allies, which could be implemented by governments, healthcare services, and other organisations.

Results

We collected a large amount of information from autistic people and their supporters/allies and have published several papers about the findings.

Across these papers, autistic people identified loneliness, feelings of worthlessness/failure, hopelessness and mental illness as the most important contributing factors to suicidal thoughts and feelings.

They also talked about their reasons for not seeking NHS help when experiencing suicidal thoughts. Many identified negative encounters, which felt ineffective and/or antagonistic, had increased their feelings of hopelessness.

Autistic and non-autistic participants explained that suicide prevention in autistic people depends on upskilling healthcare professionals, ensuring autistic people are not turned away from mental health services because they are autistic, and ensuring that undiagnosed autistic people are identified and supported.

Participants emphasised that suicide in autistic people must be understood in light of pervasive and systemic inequalities, rather than individual psychological factors. Suicide prevention needs long-term vision – starting in childhood – and must fundamentally involve partnership with autistic people.

Together, these findings tell us that to prevent suicide in autistic people, the government needs to commit to a properly-resourced, long-term strategic plan, with coordinated actions across sectors to tackle social determinants of suicide (such as poverty and discrimination) and disrupt the suicidal trajectory from early in life. Autistic people need to be equal partners in co-designing and co-producing this strategic plan, which must build in support on a needs basis to include the many autistic people who are still undiagnosed.

We are continuing to analyse the data from these surveys. When ready, additional findings will be shared on this page.

Publications

Moseley, R. L., Marsden, S. J., Allison, C. L., Parsons, T. A., Cassidy, S., Procyshyn, T., … & Baron-Cohen, S. (2025). “A combination of everything”: a mixed-methods approach to the factors which autistic people consider important in suicidality. Autism in Adulthood. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41181521/ 

Procyshyn, T. L., Moseley, R. L., Marsden, S. J., Allison, C., Parsons, T., Cassidy, S., … & Baron-Cohen, S. (2025). ‘I did not think they could help me’: Autistic adults’ reasons for not seeking public healthcare when they last experienced suicidality. Autism, 29(11), 2677-2690. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/13623613251370789

Moseley, R., Procyshyn, T. L., Chikaura, T., Marsden, S. J., Parsons, T., Cassidy, S., … Baron-Cohen, S. Community priorities for preventing suicide in autistic people: an approach to guide policy and practice. Accepted, Autism in Adulthood. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/epub/10.1177/25739581261415764 

Moseley, R., Marsden, S. J., Pelton, M., Weir, E., Procyshyn, T. L., Allison, C., … Baron-Cohen, S. (2025, August 31). “The best way we can stop suicides is by making lives worth living”: perspectives on suicide prevention from the autism community. Accepted, EClinicalMedicine. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/p97w8_v2

Funding

This project was initiated by Autism Action (previously the Autism Centre of Excellence at Cambridge), which funded the online promotion of the surveys. 

Staff

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