The Surgeon General's Call To Action
To Prevent Suicide, 1999

At a Glance: Suicide Among the Elderly

• Suicide rates increase with age and are highest among Americans aged 65 years and older. While this age group accounts for only 13 percent of the U.S. population, Americans 65 or older account for 20 percent of all suicide deaths.
• The ten-year period 1980-1990 was the first decade since the 1940s that the suicide rate for older Americans rose instead of declined, although that rate again declined during the 1990's.
• Risk factors for suicide among older persons differ from those among the young. In addition to a higher prevalence of depression, older persons are more socially isolated and more frequently use highly lethal methods. They also make fewer attempts per completed suicide, have a higher-male-to-female ratio than other groups, have often visited a health-care provider before their suicide, and have more physical illnesses.
• In 1996, men accounted for 84% of suicides among persons aged 65 years and older.
• The highest suicide rates in the country that year were among white men over 85, who had a rate of 65.3/100,000.
• From 1980-1996, the largest relative increases in suicide rates occurred among people 80-84 years of age. The rate for men in this age group increased 16% (from 43.5 per 100,000 to 50.6).
• Firearms were the most common method of suicide by both males and females, 65 years and older, 1996, accounting for 78% of male and 36% of female suicides in that age group.
• Suicide rates among the elderly are highest for those who are divorced or widowed. In 1992, the rate for divorced or widowed men in this age group was 2.7 times that for married men, 1.4 times that for never-married men, and more than 17 times that for married women. The rate for divorced or widowed women was 1.8 times that for married women and 1.4 times that for never-married women.
• Nearly 5 million of the 32 million Americans aged 65 and older suffer from some form of depression. Depression, however, is not a "normal" part of aging.
• Most elderly suicide victims—70 percent—have visited their primary care physician in the month prior to their committing suicide. With that in mind, the National Institute of Mental Health has developed this cue card for recognizing the signs of depression in older adult:

• nervous, or "empty"
  
  
• guilty or worthless
  
  
• very tired and slowed down
  
  
• you don’t enjoy things the way you used to
  
  
• restless or irritable
  
  
• like no one loves you
  
  
• like life is not worth living

• sleeping more or less than usual
  
  
• eating more or less than usual
  
  
• having persistent headaches, stomachaches, or chronic pain

For more information, please contact the following offices:

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control
www.cdc.gov/ncipc
404-639-3286

Health Resources and Services Administration
www.hrsa.dhhs.gov
301-443-1989

National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Suicide Research Consortium
www.nimh.nih.gov/research/suicide.htm
301-443-4536

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
www.samhsa.gov
301-443-8956

Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health/Surgeon General 
www.surgeongeneral.gov
202-690-7694

Last revised: January 4, 2007