Recognizing the Problem of Suicidality in Autism Spectrum Disorder

Jeremy Veenstra-VanderWeele

doi:10.1016/j.jaac.2018.03.003

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Recognizing the Problem of Suicidality in Autism Spectrum Disorder

Jeremy Veenstra-VanderWeele, MD

Correspondence information about the author MD Jeremy Veenstra-VanderWeele

Email the author MD Jeremy Veenstra-VanderWeele

Columbia University, the New York State Psychiatric Institute, and the Center for Autism and the Developing Brain, New York Presbyterian Hospital, New York

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaac.2018.03.003

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Until recently, suicidality in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) was rarely discussed. A cluster of recent articles, including an article by Culpin et al.1 in this issue, has highlighted not only that suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts can occur in adolescents and young adults with ASD, but also that suicidality is likely more common in ASD than in the general population. Retrospectively, the lack of focus on suicidality in ASD seems surprising when self-injurious behavior has long been a focus of attention in ASD.2 The emerging studies indicate that the increased risk of self-injurious behavior in younger and less cognitively able children with ASD3,4 is matched by an increased risk of suicidality in those at a more advanced developmental level.

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Dr. Veenstra-VanderWeele receives salary support from the New York State Psychiatric Institute and the Ruane Professorship for the Implementation of Science in Child and Adolescent Mental Health.

Matthew Siegel, MD, of the Maine Medical Center Research Institute, provided expert subject matter advice.

Disclosure: Dr. Veenstra-VanderWeele has received grant or research support from the National Institutes of Health, the Health Resources and Services Administration, Roche Pharmaceuticals, Seaside Therapeutics, Novartis, Forest Research Institute, Sunovion, SynapDx, the Simons Foundation, and the Mortimer D. Sackler, MD, Family Foundation. He has served on advisory boards for Autism Speaks, the Brain and Behavior Research Foundation, Roche Pharmaceuticals, Novartis, and SynapDx. He has served on the editorial boards of the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Autism Research, Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, Autism, and Frontiers in Psychiatry: Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. He has received travel expenses from Autism Speaks. He has received editorial stipends from Springer and Wiley.