Suicide And Elderly People

Suicide And Elderly People

Statistics say that apart from the youths, another age group that is particularly vulnerable to suicide is the people in the age bracket of 65 years and above. In USA this age group have a suicide rate which is six times higher than the national average.

In women suicide rates are the highest in the age group of 45-64 years and then it lowers down considerably.

Most elderly people who commit suicides have seen their physicians a few months before their deaths; about a third of them had probably seen their physicians within the week in which they had decided to commit suicide. For the elderly people who commit suicides, almost 3% of them suffer from clinical depression.

Some risk factors for the elderly regarding suicide are:

• Presence of some mental illness like depression
• Alcohol abuse
• Presence of any long standing physical illnesses
• Sudden loss of wealth or social standing
• Feelings of social isolation from the death of a spouse
• Availability of firearms in the house