Attempted suicide in old age
Open accessAbstract
Suicide and the mental disorders of old people are two of the foremost social and psychiatric problems of to day. Though the incidence and types of mental disorder occurring in old people have recently attracted much attention, and the rise of the suicide rate with advancing age has long been recognized, few clinical studies of suicide or suicidal attempts in this age group of the population have been reported. This is the more surpris ing since, as the proportion of old people in the com munity rises, the suicide rate may for that reason also rise. It is striking, for example, to find in a recent authoritative study of the mental disorders in later life (Kaplan, 1945) only brief reference to suicide, and no elaboration of its clinical aspects. Gruhle (1941) is often quoted in an opinion which minimizes the importance of psychoses in the genesis of suicidal acts in this age group and emphasizes, as motives, morbid reactions to physical illness and mental incapacity, idleness, boredom, loneliness, and inadapta bility in changed circumstances. Swinscow (1951) in a valuable statistical investigation has come to the conclusion that suicide in the last 50 years has increasingly become a disorder of elderly people, and has suggested that, as the present century has advanced, the old may have found their environment more hostile than the young. Kiorboe (1951) has made a study of 14 old people who committed and 21 who attempted suicide. His con densed findings cannot be abstracted briefly. All his cases were residents in an institution, and his sample is therefore not representative of the community at risk. His conclusions differ materially from those of this paper ?for example, he reported in his group a high incidence of syphilis, and found alcoholism to be an important factor and loneliness rare as a motive for suicide.
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Suicidal elders have been characterized as timid and seclusive, hostile, rigid, and with an independent style.
“Suicidal elders have been characterized as timid and seclusive (47), hostile, rigid and with an independent style (47, 48).”
From Suicide in older adults (2011) · cites this paper as [47]
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Cites
Swinscow, D. (1951) · BMJ · doi:10.1136/bmj.1.4720.1417 · Cited by 99 · see citing works
Suicide and Attempted Suicide Among Old People
Kiørboe, E. (1951) · Journal of Gerontology · doi:10.1093/geronj/6.3.233 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
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Research works printed but not linked: 3
- Cavan. R. S. (1928). Suicide. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
- Gruhle, H. (1941). Altersforsch., 3. 21. Kaplan. 0. J. (1945). Editor of Mental Disorders int Later Life. Stanford University Press, Stanford. California.
- Swinscow. D. (1951). British Medical Journal, 1. 1417. WORK AND AGE: STATISTICAL CONSIDERATIONS*
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Conwell, Y., Van Orden, K., & Caine, E. D. (2011) · Psychiatric Clinics of North America · doi:10.1016/j.psc.2011.02.002 · Cited by 555 · see citing works
Risk factors for late-life suicide: A prospective community-based study
Turvey, C. L., Conwell, Y., Jones, M. P., Phillips, C., Simonsick, E., Pearson, J. L., & Wallace, R. (2002) · The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry · doi:10.1097/00019442-200207000-00006 · Cited by 406 · see citing works
Conwell, Y., & Thompson, C. (2008) · Psychiatric Clinics of North America · doi:10.1016/j.psc.2008.01.004 · Cited by 333 · see citing works
Life events and psychosocial factors in elderly suicides—A case-control study
RUBENOWITZ, E., WAERN, M., WILHELMSON, K., & ALLEBECK, P. (2001) · Psychological Medicine · doi:10.1017/s0033291701004457 · Cited by 277 · see citing works
Cognitive Behaviour Therapy with Older People
Laidlaw, K., Thompson, L. W., Dick‐Siskin, L., & Gallagher‐Thompson, D. (2003) · doi:10.1002/9780470713402 · Cited by 238 · see citing works
De Leo, D., Padoani, W., Scocco, P., Lie, D., Bille‐Brahe, U., Arensman, E., Hjelmeland, H., Crepet, P., Haring, C., Hawton, K., et al. (2001) · International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry · doi:10.1002/gps.337 · Cited by 233 · see citing works
Completed suicide at age 50 and over
Conwell, Y., Rotenberg, M., & Caine, E. D. (1990) · Journal of the American Geriatrics Society · doi:10.1111/j.1532-5415.1990.tb01422.x · Cited by 204 · see citing works
Giving up or finding a solution? The experience of attempted suicide in later life
Crocker, L., Clare, L., & Evans, K. (2006) · Aging & Mental Health · doi:10.1080/13607860600640905 · Cited by 98 · see citing works
Suicide and aging in Japan: An examination of treated elderly suicide attempters
Takahashi, Y., Hirasawa, H., Koyama, K., Asakawa, O., Kido, M., Onose, H., Udagawa, M., Ishikawa, Y., & Uno, M. (1995) · International Psychogeriatrics · doi:10.1017/s1041610295002006 · Cited by 63 · see citing works
Relationship of Age, Age at Onset, and Sex to Depression in Older Adults
Lavretsky, H., Lesser, I. M., Wohl, M., & Miller, B. L. (1998) · American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry · doi:10.1097/00019442-199808000-00007 · Cited by 56 · see citing works
Suicidal ideation and self-determination in institutionalized elderly
Fortin, A., Lapierre, S., Baillargeon, J., Labelle, R., Dubé, M., & Pronovost, J. (2001) · Crisis · doi:10.1027//0227-5910.22.1.15 · Cited by 17 · see citing works
Suicides Among Family Members of Elderly Suicide Victims: An Exploratory Study
Waern, M. (2005) · Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior · doi:10.1521/suli.2005.35.3.356 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
- Authors
- Batchelor, I. R. C., & Napier, M. B.
- Affiliations
- University of Edinburgh (GB)
- Royal Edinburgh Hospital (GB)
- Venue
- BMJ
- Publisher
- BMJ
- Published
- 1953-11-28
- Volume
- 2
- Issue
- 4847
- Pages
- 1186-1190
- ISSN
- 0007-1447 (ISSN-L)
- 1468-5833
- PMC
- PMC2030193
- OpenAlex
- W1991104210
- Cited by
- 165
- References
- 2
- Citations by year
- 2025: 1 · 2024: 1 · 2021: 2 · 2019: 1 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 3 · 2016: 2 · 2015: 9 · 2014: 2 · 2013: 6 · 2012: 2
- FWCI
- 24.13
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Licence
- www.bmj.com/company/legal-information/terms-conditions/legal-information/tdm-licencepolicy (tdm)
- Locations
- BMJ (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Suicide and Self-Harm Studies
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Homicide, Infanticide, and Child Abuse
- Social Sciences › Demography › Elder Abuse and Neglect
- Keywords
- suicide attempts, older adults, suicide motives, loneliness, institutionalized elderly, alcoholism, syphilis, psychosis
- MeSH terms
- Aged, Humans, Suicide, Suicide, Attempted
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