That's interesting to me because I've often wondered if I fall on the autistic spectrum (very high functioning though), and I've had suicidal ideation in the pa

That's interesting to me because I've often wondered if I fall on the autistic spectrum (very high functioning though), and I've had suicidal ideation in the past. Nothing I'd ever act on, of course. I bet the primary cause of autistic people feeling suicidal is a lack of social awareness and how to act around others. They probably incur large social costs by not seeing social cues, saying the wrong things, and opportunity costs like feeling too anxious or inadequate to even be social. I think what helped me the most is focusing on being more empathetic, using the golden rule, and thinking from other people's perspectives. It improved my relationships with people drastically and now I'm generally happier. I usually feel like my empathy isn't genuine and too intellectual, if that makes sense, but the change in my focus has helped a ton. Even if I'm not on the autistic spectrum, trying to be more socially aware and provide value to others has been very worthwhile.