Suicide in the elderly: characteristics and warning signs

These are the warning signs that help to identify and prevent suicide in the elderly.

According to sources such as the World Health Organization (WHO), there are more than 800,000 deaths by suicide in the world every year. In Spain, according to the National Institute of Statistics (INE), suicide is the leading cause of unnatural death in Spain, above even traffic accidents.

Therefore, it is necessary to establish a prevention plan to help people who need it, being especially vulnerable young people (between 14 and 30 years) and the elderly, the latter being a very vulnerable group and in which the number of suicide cases has increased significantly.

It is for this reason that we will now talk about suicide in the elderly, explaining the risk factors and the causes of suicide in the elderly.explaining the risk factors and some prevention guidelines.

Characteristics of suicide in older people

Suicide has always been a topic that people try to talk little about, becoming a taboo subject in society, despite the fact that it is nowadays the main cause of unnatural death. it is nowadays the main cause of unnatural death, surpassing traffic accidents.overtaking traffic accidents.

There are some discouraging data related to suicide in the elderly, such as the following:

• The number of suicides in elderly people has increased in recent years.
• Among the suicides in Spain, a high percentage were people over 60 years of age.
• In the cases of suicide in the elderly, there was a high diagnosis of Major Depressive Disorder.
• Fifteen percent of elderly people with depression commit suicide.

The most characteristic factors of suicide in the elderly are as follows are those listed below:

• They make fewer attempts at self-injury than other young people.
• When they intend to commit suicide, they use more lethal methods than young people.
• They tend to reflect and premeditate carefully before committing suicide.
• They tend to send fewer warning signals than younger people.
• They may opt for a "passive" suicide, stopping taking care of themselves (they let themselves die little by little).

Main risk factors for suicide in old age.

We will now explain the main risk factors The main risk factors for suicide in the elderly, i.e. phenomena that are probabilistically associated with this behavior even though they do not necessarily lead to it or are not the main cause.

Medical factors

Among medical factors (organic alterations in the functioning of the body) The following are closely associated with a risk of suicide in the elderly:

• Disabling, painful, chronic or terminal illnesses.
• High frequency of hospitalizations or having to undergo surgery for health reasons frequently.
• Suffering from diseases such as Parkinson's disease, any type of dementia, arteriosclerosis, etc.

Psychological factors

Psychological factors play a very important role in the suicidal in the suicide rate in elderly people, as well as in the rest of the population, highlighting the following psychological conditions:

• Suffering from any type of depressive disorder or bipolar disorder.
• Abuse of alcohol and/or any type of drug.
• Suffering from any type of chronic sleep disorder.
• Suffering from a paranoid delusional psychosis, having also great distrust and agitation.
• Suffering from psychological confusion.
• Suffering from a personality disorder that seriously affects their daily life.
• Having feelings of uselessness and/or loneliness, without having tasks that make you feel useful.
• Inactivity and/or boredom.
• Lack of projects and goals in their life.
• Having a desire to die because they think that life is no longer worth living.
• Not having social relationships that are satisfying, which can increase their feeling of loneliness.

Numerous studies have documented that depression is strongly associated with suicide, being the main risk factor and the most frequent cause among suicides. the most frequent cause of suicide among suicides that have taken place in all age groups..

In the case of the elderly it is more complicated to diagnose depression than in younger people, usually presenting in older people as an atypical depression, so that fewer cases of depression have been detected than those estimated to exist in reality, so that in many cases it is not properly treated and that increases the risk of suicide.

In order to detect a case of depression in the elderly, as it is an atypical form of depression an atypical form of depressionIt is necessary to be attentive to different aspects than in younger people, such as the following: apathy or lack of motivation to do things they used to like to do, complaints of feeling lonely and hopelessness, more somatic complaints or feeling more Pain than usual, and there may be less direct verbalization of feeling a vital sadness, so it is more appropriate to detect depression indirectly by this series of complaints.

3. Family factors

The family factors are very important especially in these ages in which increases the degree of dependency of the rest of the family.They are also risk factors for suicide in the elderly, and the following are some of the most important:

• Loss of their loved ones, especially if it is a child.
• Continuous change of place of residence, when your children take turns taking care of you and you have to move.
• Admission to a nursing home, especially when you do not feel well treated.
• Suffering a traumatic event related to a family member (e.g., accident of a relative).
• Becoming a widower.
• When children and grandchildren do not come to visit.
• Spending most of your time alone.
• Being abused by a family member or caregiver.

4. Social, environmental and economic factors

Socio-environmental and economic factors are also are also very relevant in the quality of life of a person, so they can also be risk factors for suicide in the elderly.Therefore, they can also be risk factors for suicide in the elderly, highlighting the following:

• Being in a bad economic situation, so unable to cover essential expenses.
• Having a poor quality of life, lacking basic goods.
• Not having decent housing or even sleeping on the street or in shelters.
• Not having sufficient autonomy to do a series of basic tasks.
• Feeling that they have lost their dignity by being unable to perform tasks they used to do.

Covert suicide in the elderly

Covert suicide is a form of suicide in which it is difficult to distinguish whether the person has committed suicide. it is difficult to distinguish whether the person has died as a result of an accident or whether it is in fact suicide..

Numerous cases of covert suicide have been detected in elderly people, the following being the most common forms of this way of carrying out a suicide.

1. Domestic accidents

There are many cases of death due to a domestic accident that could have been caused intentionally by the elderly person, so it is a covert suicide and the coroner, not having sufficient evidence to prove the cause, could declare a domestic accident as the cause of death, could declare a domestic accident as the cause of death..

2. Drug overdose

As in the case of domestic accidents, when a drug overdose death occurs, it is also very difficult to know whether it was the result of an absent-mindedness or was done intentionally in order to produce what may be called a covert suicide.

On the other hand, the opposite may be true. The elderly person may intentionally not take the medication he/she needs and neglect more aspects of his/her health, which can gradually deteriorate his/her health, causing a more premature death than if he/she maintained a healthy lifestyle and took the medication as prescribed by his/her doctor.This can gradually deteriorate their health, causing them to die more prematurely than if they maintain a healthy lifestyle and take their medication as prescribed by their doctor.

3. Drowning

Studies have been conducted on several cases of drowning in various countries, highlighting a large number of cases of covert suicide by drowning in elderly people in Japan, with cases also detected in other countries.cases have also been detected in other countries

In all the above cases it is very difficult to prove whether the death of the elderly person has been caused by a covert suicide or, on the other hand, the cause of death is an oversight that has caused an accident, so that in many cases of covert suicide it has been declared that the cause of death has been an accident, while there have also been cases of death by accident that have been declared as a suicide.

Suicide prevention in the elderly

It is important to to detect a series of aspects and behaviors to prevent the suicide in older people.highlighting the following:

• Assessment by a physician or psychologist of the risk of suicide.
• Detect symptoms or behaviors that make one suspect depression.
• Control and treat as far as possible any painful, chronic or disabling disease.
• Ensure that the older person sees a mental health specialist if necessary.
• Make sure that the elderly person takes all of his or her medications correctly.
• Make sure that the elderly person does not abuse alcohol or any type of medication.
• Make sure the elderly person maintains a healthy lifestyle.
• Make sure that the elderly person makes regular medical visits and does not skip any medical appointments.
• Ensure that the elderly person does not isolate him/herself and can participate in day centers for the elderly.
• Ensure that the elderly person stays active and engages in activities that he/she enjoys.
• Ensure that the elderly person has an active social life.
• That his family cares for the elderly person and spends time with him is a factor of prevention.

Warning signs

Be on the lookout for these warning signs that can act as risk factors for suicide in older people:

• Verbally expresses that he/she does not want to live any longer.
• Is often nervous, apathetic or unmotivated.
• Verbally complains that he/she is no longer good for anything.
• Is more tired than usual.
• You are more irritable or restless than usual.
• No longer enjoys doing activities that he/she used to enjoy.
• Verbally complains that no one loves him/her.
• Eating less or more than usual
• Complains frequently of stomachaches, headaches or chronic pain.
• Has frequent demands to go to the doctor, but may not have any pain at all.
• Cries very often, sometimes for no apparent reason.
• Self-injury.
• Sudden changes in mood.

It is important to take all these signs seriously and to listen to them and even seek professional help.. It is necessary to listen to him and to try to understand how he feels, so that he realizes that he is supported by his loved ones.

It is also important that these people do not spend too much time alone and make sure they know that we are there for them. It is also important to be gentle when reprimanding them for something they have done wrong, trying not to raise their voice. It is necessary to help the elderly to feel valid on their own.