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Voices of Expertise – a Grassroots Suicide Prevention podcast

Voices for Professionals

A podcast for professionals supporting people experiencing suicidality.

Join leading professionals and lived experience experts as they share practical advice on supporting people at risk. Each episode tackles real-world challenges and provides strategies to build confidence, share knowledge, and promote compassionate, trauma-informed care.

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Breaking barriers: Suicide prevention for neurodivergent patients in primary care

About the episode

This podcast is primarily designed for GPs and primary care staff, but its insights and strategies will be of real value to any professional working with autistic people across health, education, social care, or community organisations.

Autistic people and other neurodivergent individuals face a significantly higher risk of suicide, yet too often their distress is missed or misunderstood in primary care. This podcast, a collaboration between Grassroots Suicide Prevention and NHS England, brings together national experts and lived experience voices to explore how we can change this.

In conversation with:

Dr Chris Ince – Consultant Psychiatrist, Senior Clinical Specialist Adviser, National Autism team, NHS England

Dr Amy Dissanayake – GP, Deputy Chief Medical Officer for NHS Sussex, National Specialty Advisor, National Autism team, NHS England

Dr Lou Thomas – Research Manager, National Autism Team, NHS England, former academic. Lou is also autistic and has ADHD

Agnes Munday – Head of Training, Grassroots Suicide Prevention.

Topics covered:

  • Why neurodivergent people may be at greater risk of suicide
  • How to recognise warning signs that may differ from neurotypical presentations
  • Practical adjustments and screening approaches for busy teams
  • How to create collaborative, tailored suicide safety plans with patients
  • Simple changes that make surgeries more accessible and supportive

Local resources for Sussex

For other areas please refer to your local NHS Trust https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/mental-health-services/

 Guidance documents

 Resources for clinicians

Resources for neurodivergent people and families

  • Beauchaine et al. (2020). ADHD, financial distress, and suicide in adulthood: A population study. Science Advances, 6(40), eaba1551. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aba1551
  • Brady et al. (2024). “A perfect storm”: Autistic experiences of menopause and midlife. Autism, 28(6), 1405–1418. https://doi.org/10.1177/13623613241244548
  • Brede et al. (2022). “We Have to Try to Find a Way, a Clinical Bridge” – autistic adults’ experience of accessing and receiving support for mental health difficulties: A systematic review and thematic meta-synthesis. Clinical Psychology Review, 93, 102131. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2022.102131
  • Camm-Crosbie et al. (2019). ‘People like me don’t get support’: Autistic adults’ experiences of support and treatment for mental health difficulties, self-injury and suicidality. Autism, 23(6), 1431–1441. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362361318816053
  • Cassidy et al. (2018). Risk markers for suicidality in autistic adults. Molecular autism, 9, 42. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13229-018-0226-4
  • Cassidy et al. (2020) Is camouflaging autistic traits associated with suicidal thoughts and behaviours? Expanding the Interpersonal Psychological Theory of Suicide in an undergraduate student sample. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 50(10), 3638–3648. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-019-04323-3
  • Cassidy et al. (2022). Autism and autistic traits in those who died by suicide in England. The British journal of Psychiatry, 1–9. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1192/bjp.2022.21
  • Corden et al. (2021). A systematic review of healthcare professionals’ knowledge, self-efficacy and attitudes towards working with autistic people. Review Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 9, 386-399. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40489-021-00263-w
  • Fernández de la Cruz et al. (2017). Suicide in Tourette’s and Chronic Tic Disorders. Biological Psychiatry, 82(2), 111–118. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2016.08.023
  • Fitzgerald et al. (2019). Suicidal behaviour among persons with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 1–6. https://doi.org/10.1192/bjp.2019.128 
  • French et al. (2023). Risks associated with undiagnosed ADHD and/or autism: A mixed-method systematic review. Journal of Attention Disorders, 27(12), 1393–1410. https://doi.org/10.1177/10870547231176862
  • Hedley et al. (2017). Brief Report: Social support, depression and suicidal ideation in adults with autism spectrum disorder. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 47(11), 3669–3677. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-017-3274-2
  • Hirvikoski et al. (2016). Premature mortality in autism spectrum disorder. British Journal of Psychiatry, 208(3):232-238. https://doi.org/10.1192/bjp.bp.114.160192
  • Jager-Hyman et al. (2020). Mental health clinicians’ screening and intervention practices to reduce suicide risk in autistic adolescents and adults. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 50(10), 3450–3461. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-020-04441-3
  • Kirby et al. (2019). A 20-year study of suicide death in a statewide autism population. Autism Research, 12(4), 658–666. https://doi.org/10.1002/aur.2076
  • Kõlves et al. (2021). Assessment of suicidal behaviours among individuals with autism spectrum disorder in Denmark. JAMA Network Open, 4(1). https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.33565
  • Moseley et al. (2021). Autism research is ‘all about the blokes and the kids’: Autistic women breaking the silence on menopause. British Journal of Health Psychology, 26(3), 709–726. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjhp.12477
  • Moseley et al. (2022). The relevance of the interpersonal theory of suicide for predicting past-year and lifetime suicidality in autistic adults. Molecular Autism, 13(1), 14. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13229-022-00495-5
  • Moseley et al. (2024). Potential mechanisms underlying suicidality in autistic people with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder: Testing hypotheses from the Interpersonal Theory of Suicide. Autism in Adulthood, 6(1), 9–24. https://doi.org/10.1089/aut.2022.0042
  • Moseley et al. (PREPRINT – UNDER REVIEW). Suicidality in autistic people: A mixed-methods approach to contributing factors. http://dx.doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.27024.42249
  • National Child Mortality Database (2024). Learning from deaths: Children with a learning disability and autistic children aged 4-17 years. Available from: https://www.ncmd.info/publications/child-death-learning-disability-autism/
  • Newell et al. (2023). A systematic review and meta-analysis of suicidality in autistic and possibly autistic people without co-occurring intellectual disability. Molecular Autism, 14. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13229-023-00544-7
  • Pelton et al. (2020). Understanding suicide risk in autistic adults: Comparing the interpersonal theory of suicide in autistic and non-autistic samples. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 50(10), 3620–3637. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-020-04393-8
  • Pelton et al. (2023). The role of anxiety and depression in suicidal thoughts for autistic and non-autistic people: A theory-driven network analysis. Suicide & Life-Threatening Behaviour, 53(3), 426–442. https://doi.org/10.1111/sltb.12954
  • Richards et al. (2019). Autistic traits in adults who have attempted suicide. Molecular autism, 10, 26. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13229-019-0274-4
  • Rumball. (2020). Experience of trauma and PTSD symptoms in autistic adults: Risk of PTSD development following DSM-5 and non-DSM-5 traumatic life events. Autism Research, 13(12), 2122–2132. https://doi.org/10.1002/aur.2306
  • Septier et al. (2019). Association between suicidal spectrum behaviors and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 103, 109–118. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2019.05.022 
  • Underwood et al. (2023). Neurological and psychiatric disorders among autistic adults: A population healthcare record study. Psychological Medicine,53(12), 5663–5673. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291722002884

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