Suicide Risk Among the Elderly
(11/28/09)- At a recent conference sponsored by the American Society on Aging, Patrick Arbore, Ed.D cited evidence that suicide is more common among elderly than in any other demographic group. The American Society on Aging is the nation's largest multi disciplinary community of professionals working with and on behalf of older adults.
Dr. Arbore is the founder and director of the Center for
Elderly suicide Prevention at the Institute on Aging in San
Francisco. In light of this information, the editors of this web
site thought it advisable to present as much factual data as is
available on suicide in the elderly. The following information
comes from .cdc.gov/injury and the CDC weekly publication MMWD
from July 7, 2006/55(26): 721-724.
(a) Suicide was the 11th leading cause of death for all ages.
(b) Suicides account for 1.4% of all deaths in the US.
(c) More than 32,000 suicides occurred in the US, This is the
equivalent of 89 suicides per day, one suicide every 16 minutes
or 11.05 suicides per 100,000 population.
(d) Among adults aged 65 or older, there is one suicide every 4
suicide attempts.
(e) The rate of suicide for adults aged 65 years and older was
14.3 per 100,000 population.
(f.)Among males, adults 75 years and older have the highest rate
of suicide (rate 37.4 per 100,000 population).
(g) Among females, those in the 40's and 50's have the highest
rate of suicide (rate 8.0 per 100,000 population).
Researchers studying suicide behavior have developed a list of
risk factors that they believe would be helpful in predicting
individuals who would commit suicide.
Risk Factors
(a) Previous suicide attempt (17.95 of suicide victims made
previous attempt(s)).
(b) History of depression or other mental disease (most
frequently reported diagnoses were depression 81.3%, bipolar
disorder 9.9% and schizophrenia 3.3% in 2004)
(c) Alcohol or drug abuse (16.5% had an alcohol dependence
problem)
(d) Family history of suicide or violence.
(e) Physical illness (22.1% of suicide victims had a physical
illness)
(f) Feeling alone.
These factors should place an older person on a risk continuum
for suicide to allow for more informed intervention. Physical
illness and feeling alone are a not uncommon factor in the lives
of individuals over 65 years of age.
These factors can come into interplay with depression to
trigger a suicide attempt. An article in Family Practice News,
Nov. 1, 2007 states: "A 1999 report said that major
depression played a pivotal role in about 60% of all reported
suicide cases and about 80% of suicides in the elderly."
(There was no citation for the source of this report).
Another factor that may be correlated with suicide is
hopelessness. Hopelessness is a pattern of thinking where
individuals believe they are trapped in misery with no
expectation of things ever getting better.
R. D. Wetzel in an article ("Hopelessness, depression and
suicide intent") that appeared in the Archives of General
Psychiatry 1976, 33(9) accessed Nov. 25 2007 concluded that
"hopelessness correlated more highly with suicide intent
than did depression. The date were regarded as supporting the
hypothesis that hopelessness is more closely related to suicide
intent than is depression."
Elderly people see physicians not infrequently. Physicians need
to be aware that the elderly are less likely to communicate their
depression than other younger patients. Depression is a treatable
disease.
Dr. Arbore recommends the Geriatric Depression Scale and the Geriatric Hopelessness Scale for assessing the elderly. The Geriatric Depression Scale is in the public domain Physicians can access this sight and obtain a copy of the assessment scale.
Please also see- Failure to
Thrive: Sundown Syndrome-Wasting Away
FOR AN INFORMATIVE AND PERSONAL ARTICLE ON PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS WHEN SELECTING A NURSING HOME SEE OUR ARTICLE "How to Select a Nursing Home"
Harold Rubin, MS, ABD, CRC, Guest Lecturer
posted November 28, 2007
e-mail: hrubin12@nyc.rr.com
or rubin@brainlink.com