07/24/2018 / By Frances Bloomfield
Suicide rates among older Americans have reached a disturbing peak. According to Drs. Namkee G. Choi and Diana M. DiNitto, both social work professors at The University of Texas at Austin, more people aged 50 and above have died by suicide than young people. Speaking in a press release, Choi remarked: “Many people may not know that suicide rates are higher among older than younger adults. This is especially true for older men, who are approximately 85 percent of all suicide victims aged 65 years or older.”
The primary driving forces behind these actions, the researchers discovered, are debilitating physical conditions (such as the pains from cancer and arthritis) and untreated depression. They noted that for many older adults, especially men, suicide was viewed as a reasonable and acceptable option when physical illness had become too much to bear.
To arrive at this sordid conclusion, Choi and DiNitto combed through 10 years’ worth of data on older adults from 16 states, all of whom had died by suicide. They looked at death certificates, toxicology reports, coroner assessments, and, when available, summaries of suicide notes. Going over all of these materials allowed the researchers to make a note of important trends that ran rampant among the older generation of Americans. (Related: Increased suicide rate in military blamed on conditions other than combat and prescription drug abuse.)
On their findings, DiNitto said: “Rather than a reason for making suicide acceptable, this is a call to take measures to relieve the pain and suffering that precede suicide.”
To that end, DiNitto and Choi have put out four helpful and important tips to help prevent suicide among older adults.
If you’re looking for more advice regarding the sensitive topic of suicide, feel free to go to Psychiatry.news today.
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Tagged Under: assisting the elderly, longevity, mental health, mind body science, psychiatry, Psychology, senior citizens, senior health, suicide, Suicide prevention, suicide risk