People with Asperger Syndrome are more likely to have suicidal thoughts than other people, a new study shows.
For the study, researchers interviewed 374 adults diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome. All the respondents lived in Britain. The research team found that 66 percent of those interviewed confessed of having suicidal thoughts and 35 percent of them said they had planned or attempted suicide.
Researchers compared these rates to the nation's rates and found a significant difference. In Britain, 17 percent of the general population reported to having suicidal thoughts. The team found that these people were four times more likely to have suicidal thoughts and two times more likely to try it in comparison to people with Asperger syndrome without depression.
According to the researchers, more severe the symptoms were, higher was the suicide risk.
"Our findings confirm anecdotal reports that adults with Asperger syndrome have a significantly higher risk of suicide in comparison to other clinical groups, and that depression is a key risk factor in this," said study co-leader Dr. Sarah Cassidy, of the Autism Research Center at Cambridge University, in a press release.
"Adults with Asperger syndrome often suffer with secondary depression due to social isolation, loneliness, social exclusion, lack of community services, under-achievement and unemployment," study co-leader Simon Baron-Cohen, from Cambridge, added. "Their depression and risk of suicide are preventable with the appropriate support. This study should be a wake-up call for the urgent need for high-quality services, to prevent the tragic waste of even a single life."
The study was published in The Lancet Psychiatry.
