Autism and suicide

Autism and suicide.
Children with autism may have a higher-than-average gamble of contemplating or attempting suicide, a unique inspect suggests. Researchers found that mothers of children with autism were much more favourite than other moms to command their child had talked about or attempted suicide: 14 percent did, versus 0,5 percent of mothers whose kids didn't have the disorder. The behavior was more ordinary in older kids (aged 10 and up) and those whose mothers cogitation they were depressed, as well as kids whose moms said they were teased vitoviga.eu. An autism masterful not intricate in the research, however, said the workroom had limitations, and that the findings "should be interpreted cautiously".

One mind is that the dope was based on mothers' reports, and that's a limitation in any study, said Cynthia Johnson, supervisor of the Autism Center at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh. Johnson also said mothers were asked about suicidal and "self-harming" have a or behavior. "A lot of children with autism disquisition about or tie up in self-harming behavior," she said dex party powder next day. "That doesn't sour there's a suicidal intent".

Still, Johnson said it makes sanity that children with autism would have a higher-than-normal danger of suicidal tendencies. It's known that they have increased rates of despair and uneasiness symptoms, for example. The descendant of suicidal behavior in these kids "is an top-level one," Johnson said, "and it deserves further study".

Autism spectrum disorders are a bunch of developmental brains disorders that set a child's knack to yield and interact socially. They distance from grim cases of "classic" autism to the comparatively mild form called Asperger's syndrome. In the United States, it's been estimated that about one in 88 children has an autism spectrum disorder.

This week, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention revised that omnipresence to as principal as one in 50 children. The callow findings, reported in the daily Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, are based on surveys of nearly 800 mothers of children with an autism spectrum disorder, 35 whose kids were direct of autism but suffered from depression, and nearly 200 whose kids had neither disorder.

The children ranged in discretion from 1 to 16, and the autism spectrum untidiness cases ranged in severity. Non-autistic children with dent had the highest clip of suicidal bunk and behavior, according to mothers - 43 percent said it was a incorrigible at least "sometimes".

Among children with autism spectrum disorders, those with dimple symptoms were at greatest imperil of suicidal the rag or attempts. Overall, 77 percent of autistic children with suicidal behavior were considered to be depressed by their mothers. The results highlight the truth that children with autism spectrum disorders be reduced from a chain of issues other than the master-work autism symptoms, said Angela Gorman, one of the study's researchers.

And "Sometimes these other things get overshadowed by the autism spectrum snarl symptoms themselves," said Gorman, an subordinate professor of issue psychiatry at Penn State College of Medicine, in Hershey. She suggested that parents pay out airless publicity to what "normal behavior" is for their child, so they can attention when a passive red languish arises, such as an raise in saddening moods or smarting outbursts.

So "If you have any concerns, efficacious your youth in for an evaluation with a psychologist or psychiatrist," Gorman said. Although the swotting tied having autism to more suicidal rattle on or attempts, it didn't be established that these children are more credible to commit suicide. Besides depression symptoms, bullying also seemed to be a peril factor for suicidal behavior, the researchers found.

Kids with autism whose mothers said they were teased were three times more qualified to show such behavior. And teasing was common, reported by 57 percent of mothers. That's in cord with a late office that found nearly half of US teens with autism spectrum disorders have been bullied by other kids.

Johnson agreed that these news findings underscore the many issues children with autism spectrum disorders face. "These are weak children," she said. Johnson said she already talks with parents about the increased risks of unhappiness and apprehension associated with autism. As for punctilious screening for suicidal behavior, that might be done in some cases, she said. But there's no infinite guideline on screening. Gorman said she thinks all children with autism spectrum disorders should, at some point, be screened for suicidal behavior.

It would transform sense, she said, to hang around until children are older, but there are no set-in-stone rules for how or when to screen. And if your toddler is showing the tip signs? Gorman said psychoanalysis would depend on each child's situation, including how grievous the autism is and what co-existing problems - such as sadness - there might be. Johnson said that if parents are anxious about changes in their child's behavior, they should report it up to their doctor. But she also stressed that temper or behavior shifts could have any few of causes wheretobuyrx. "My intelligence to parents is, don't panic," she said.