Sept. 19, 2007 – Hundreds of news sources ran the Associated Press story today highlighting that senior citizens are at the highest risk of suicide. The rest of the story is, however, that senior citizens are at the highest risk of dying from about any cause you can think of, and suicide is way down the list. It ranked 18 in the top causes of death for the elderly in 2004, but it was the second leading cause of death for those age 25 to 34. Even for baby boomers it is somewhere in about 6th place.

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The AP story by Sarah Skidmore points out that “the overall U.S. suicide rate is 11 per 100,000 people” but for “those 65 and older that figure rises to 14 per 100,000.” The information is from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention based on the latest date, which is from 2004.

Other CDC data shows that older Americans are disproportionately likely to die by suicide, reports the National Institute of Mental Health.

● Although they comprise only 12 percent of the U.S. population, people age 65 and older accounted for 16 percent of suicide deaths in 2004.1

● 14.3 of every 100,000 people age 65 and older died by suicide in 2004, higher than the rate of about 11 per 100,000 in the general population. 1

● Non-Hispanic white men age 85 and older were most likely to die by suicide. They had a rate of 49.8 suicide deaths per 100,000 persons in that age group.

But, on the other hand, less than one percent of senior citizens die from suicide - .3% in 2004. That is a total of 5,198 senior citizens out of 1,755,669 that died in 2004.

Among the top 20 causes of death among senior citizens, it ranked as number 18. Five causes accounted for about 70% of all senior deaths in 2004 – heart disease (30.4%), cancer (22%), stroke (7.4%), respiratory disease (6%) and Alzheimer’s (3.7%). After those five, you are down into pretty small percentages.

20 Leading Causes of Deaths, United States
Ages: 65-85 - 2004, All Races, Both Sexes

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths	Percentage of All Deaths in Age Group
All Deaths	1,755,669	100.0%
1. Heart Disease	533,302	30.4%
2. Malignant Neoplasms	385,847	22.0%
3. Cerebrovascular	130,538	7.4%
4. Chronic Low. Respiratory Disease	105,197	6.0%
5. Alzheimer's Disease	65,313	3.7%
6. Diabetes Mellitus	53,956	3.1%
7. I nfluenza & Pneumonia	52,760	3.0%
8. Nephritis	35,105	2.0%
9. Unintentional Injury	35,020	2.0%
10. Septicemia	25,644	1.5%
11. Hypertension	19,619	1.1%
12. Parkinson's Disease	17,564	1.0%
13. Pneumonitis	15,345	0.9%
14. Aortic Aneurysm	11,210	0.6%
15. Atherosclerosis	11,197	0.6%
16. Benign Neoplasms	10,761	0.6%
17. Liver Disease	9,809	0.6%
18. Suicide	5,198	0.3%
19. Anemias	3,442	0.2%
20. Peptic Ulcer	2,915	0.2%
All Others	225,927	12.9%

Actually, the health system might better spend their time worrying about suicide among younger people. Among those ages 10 through 34 it is approximately the number three cause of death (remember it was 18^th for seniors).

20 Leading Causes of Death, U.S. 2004, All Races, Both Sexes
Age	Rank in Causes of Death
10-14	3
15-24	3
25-34	2
35-44	4
45-54	5
55-64	8
65-74	15
75-84	18
85+	Not in Top 20
All	11

In fact, it is a much more common cause of death among all younger people – including baby boomers, with the exception of children under the age of 10.

For young adults ages 25 through 34, suicide is the second leading cause of death and represents 12.4% of all deaths in 2004 for this age group.

Sure, it is true that about 16% of all suicides are committed by those 65 and older. But, take a realistic look at this. The top age in the U.S. is about 115, which means the senior citizen age group covers 50 years – 65 to 115. When you compare suicides among senior citizens with those in the 50 ages below 65, the picture changes dramatically.

The age group 50 years younger than seniors – age 15 to 64 – experienced 26,945 suicides in 2006. That is about five times the number of suicides among the elderly.

So, a more realistic look at the facts shows that seniors may not be “the highest risk population in the country for suicide,” as the AP and many others say.

Although, most experts blame suicides on depression, it is certainly easy to see how senior citizens can get easily depressed reading about all the dire problems we seem to have. But, suicide has to be way down our worry list.

>> AP news report on suicide among elderly.

>> Centers for Disease Control & Prevention on Causes of Death

More Information on Suicide and the Elderly

Administration on Aging

Suicide is an ultimate act of self-abuse taken by an individual who sees no other alternative to ending their physical or emotional pain. Recognition of suicide is often difficult given efforts to hide intent and to avoid stigma and financial loss for survivors. More important than an accurate statistical count of suicides is understanding behavioral patterns of individuals before action, its prevalence among age groups, and the changes in the rates of successful and unsuccessful attempts within groups over time. Research in these areas has produced early warning signs of treatable depression and support for training and development of suicide prevention programs.

Consumer Information – Elderly

Consumer Information – Suicide Prevention

Practitioner/Researcher Statistics

Government Agencies and Initiatives

Advocacy and Resource Organizations

Research Reports and Articles

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Consumer Information - Elderly