Suicide warning signs
LANGUAGE
I can’t do this anymore.
I can’t take this anymore.
I won’t be around forever.
I just want to go to sleep and not wake up.
What is the point?
I just want it all to be over.
I just want it all to go away.
Suddenly very quiet.
MOOD
Withdrawn
Sudden relief/relaxed mood
Different to usual energy and character
Losing interest in previous activities
PHYSICAL
Sleep issues.
Many autistic people have sleep disturbance, so it needs to be different to usual patterns.
Taking less care of appearance.
Weight loss or gain.
BEHAVIOUR
Giving away possessions
Writing a will
Writing a manual for a business
Writing lists of passwords to access accounts
Writing letters
Writing suicide notes
Researching ways to die
Buying or getting access to something dangerous
Increased alcohol or other drug (AOD) use
Despite a widely held belief that autistic people do not have AOD problems, this isn’t the case and therefore they can have a myriad of risk factors (i.e., AOD + mental health diagnosis + ASD). The more cooccurring difficulties someone has, the higher their suicide risk.
Increased high risk behaviour (e.g., speeding, spending money)
Self-harm behaviour
Saying good-bye
Drawing or writing about death or suicide
WARNING SIGNS TO BE MORE AWARE OF
IF PERSON IS ON THE AUTISM SPECTRUM:
Increased self-harm behaviour
Significant withdrawal, being very quiet, being very reserved
Increased aggression
Increase in ‘meltdowns’ or ‘shutdowns’: emotional overwhelm
Increase in watching TV shows with themes of death and suicide
Increase in listening to songs with themes about death and suicide
Autistic people often have very specific interests. For some people this can be the idea of death and may not actually represent suicidal thinking. However, you won’t know if you don’t ask.
Drawing about death
Giving away money and personal items
Clearing out lockers, desks, etc.
Increased mistakes in work (paid or domestic)
Difficulty concentrating
