Five-Year Initiative Will Unite Top Experts and Drive Innovative New Research for Better Interventions

/PRNewswire/ -- Jake Collective, a nonprofit foundation and LLC impact investment engine focused on supporting neurodivergent young people, has launched a major partnership with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) to improve understanding and assistance for neurodivergent youth and young adults. Neurodivergent is a broad term used to describe individuals whose brains process information, learn, communicate, or behave in ways that differ from what is typical. It includes autism, ADHD, dyslexia, and other developmental and learning differences and may also overlap with certain mental health profiles.

Under the initiative, leading researchers in psychiatry, neurobiology, brain imaging, pediatrics, and people with lived experience will team up with the world's preeminent foundation for suicide prevention to define the neurocognitive and psychosocial factors underlying the heightened risk of serious mental health challenges and suicide in neurodivergent young people. The team will then employ this research to better identify warning signs and interventions to support neurodivergent young people and to prevent tragedy.

"Through this unprecedented collaboration, our project will examine what is known about neurodivergence, mental health and suicide, identify the most urgent gaps in our understanding and pursue new research to help fill them," said Melissa Floren Filippone, CEO of Jake Collective. "Just as importantly, we will look for promising interventions that may already exist but have not yet reached the young people and families who need them. Our goal is to move knowledge out of academic silos and into real-world settings where it can begin saving lives."

Neurodivergent young people have a substantially elevated risk of suicide. According to a 2022 study published in The Journal of Attention Disorders, college students with ADHD attempted suicide at a rate nearly two-and-a-half times higher than students without ADHD.* A 2024 Autism journal study found that one third of autistic people aged 16 to 21 had experienced thoughts of harming themselves with the intention of ending their lives.**

Despite the enormity of the need, suicide prevention research and outreach have seldom focused on neurodivergent young people. Because many of these young people experience social isolation and struggle to give full voice to their emotions, their peers, caregivers, even close family members, and therapists may see few, if any, indicators of a growing internal conflict, even when that conflict has become a serious threat to their wellbeing. Further, suicide intervention methods designed for neurotypical people often fail to engage young people with complex intelligence who perceive themselves and their world differently.

Jake Collective was established in memory of Jake Schreiber, a born scientist, a brilliant composer of electronic music, and a son and brother with the biggest of hearts, who at the age of 19 died by suicide. Jake was also neurodivergent. Creating a more supportive environment for neurodivergent young people than exists today is central to the foundation's mission.

AFSP is the leading nonprofit organization focused on improving outcomes for Americans at risk of suicide through research, expanded public awareness, and vigorous advocacy. The foundation also provides crucial support to those who have lost family members, friends, and close colleagues to suicide.

"Thanks to Jake Collective's focus and partnership, AFSP intends to advance our understanding of suicide risk among neurodivergent youth and young adults and identify opportunities to improve support and prevention efforts," said Dr. Christine Yu Moutier, AFSP's chief medical officer. "This initiative will fund research and bring scientific findings, clinical expertise and lived experience together to create lifesaving change in real-world settings."

About AFSP

The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention is dedicated to saving lives and bringing hope to those affected by suicide. Led by CEO Robert Gebbia and headquartered in New York, with its Policy and Advocacy Office in Washington, D.C., AFSP has local chapters in all 50 states, D.C., and Puerto Rico, with programs and events nationwide. Learn more about AFSP in its latest Annual Report and join the conversation on suicide prevention by following AFSP on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, and TikTok.

About Jake Collective

Jake Collective is a nonprofit foundation and impact investment engine dedicated to improving the lives of neurodivergent young people. By building a flywheel of scaled data, capital, clinical care, and human understanding, the organization works to transform how neurodivergence is seen and supported. Jake Collective is privately funded and is not soliciting or accepting donations at this time. For more information visit jakecollective.org.

Are you in a crisis? Call or text 988 or text TALK to 741741

*Brown N, McLafferty M, O'Neill SM, et al. (February 2022). The Mediating Roles of Mental Health and Substance Use on Suicidal Behavior Among Undergraduate Students With ADHD. Journal of Attention Disorders

**Michal L. Cook, Brianne Tomaszewski, Elena Lamarche, Karrah Bowman, Claire B. Klein, Sara Stahl, Laura Klinger (February 10, 2024) Suicide risk in transition-aged autistic youth: The link among executive function, depression, and autistic traits. Autism

SOURCE American Foundation for Suicide Prevention