Suicide Among the Elderly:

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Abstract
Suicide rates in the U.S. are highest among the elderly. If the aged make an attempt they usually "succeed" in killing themselves. This makes it imperative to take all of their threats of suicide seriously. Two cases of suicidal behavior from an outreach program for the elderly are presented as typical examples of self-destructive clients. A consideration of these cases, their relevance to factors and problems cited in the literature on aged suicide, and their implications for prevention are given. General preventive measures for suicide among the elderly are suggested to be dependent upon better case finding and identification, a change in the negative social attitude toward the aged, and the dissemination of information and education on suicide. Without these it is unlikely that declines in elderly suicide rates will be realized to the extent of altering the general tendency for suicide to be predominantly an old age phenomenon.

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