In the Wake of the National Suicide Prevention Strategy 2025–2035: Suicide Prevention in Type 1 Diabetes

The release of the recent National Suicide Prevention Strategy 2025–2035 highlights the need for further investigation into the experiences of suicidal and self-injurious thoughts and behaviours in people living with chronic conditions [1]. Specifically, research into suicide prevention in paediatric type 1 diabetes (T1D) predominantly investigates prevalence, with little to no nuanced exploration of lived experiences. For instance, a recent meta-analysis found a pooled prevalence in young people living with T1D of 15.4% reporting suicidal ideation and 3.5% reporting previous suicide attempts [2]. Investigation into suicide deaths remains contentious, although some studies report up to 4.4% of deaths in their T1D clinical population have been from suicide [2]. For individuals experiencing mental health crises, tools for diabetes management have also been reported as very accessible means for suicide and self-injury [3]. Despite the significance of this issue, it remains largely unaddressed, likely due to the intricate interplay between medical management and psychological factors in T1D care. The true prevalence of suicide and self-injury in young people with T1D is likely under-reported as the foundational understanding of these events is lacking and screening practices are inadequate [4]. Furthermore, these issues are not well-addressed by the institutions authoring the clinical guidelines to help young people with the demands of T1D [5]. However, the recent National Suicide Prevention Strategy provided a framework to prevent suicides and create more effective support systems, which are both underpinned by ‘critical enablers’ such as lived experience [1]. Thus, it is imperative that the lived experiences of young people are explored to better understand the determinants of suicide and/or self-injury. From the generation of this foundational knowledge, we can then ascertain the most effective way to progress suicide prevention efforts for young people living with T1D. Rigel Paciente: conceptualisation, writing – original draft, writing – review and editing, project administration, funding acquisition. Keely Bebbington: conceptualisation, writing – review and editing, supervision. Alix Woolard: conceptualisation, writing – review and editing, supervision. Helen Milroy: conceptualisation, writing – review and editing, supervision. Rigel Paciente is receiving support for their PhD through the Australian Government's Research Training Program Scholarships. Helen Milroy and Alix Woolard are supported by the Channel 7 Telethon Trust and Rio Tinto Embrace Program. Keely Bebbington is supported by a fellowship from Breakthrough T1D Australia and is the recipient of the Commonwealth of Australia grant for Accelerated Research under the Medical Research Future Fund. The authors declare no conflicts of interest. The authors have nothing to report.