Suicide is Getting Old
Men over 75-years-old are at the highest risk of suicide. By far.
I’ve written about older men and mental health often, and for several publications. The hard fact is that the situation for this group is only getting worse.
Of course all the attention goes to suicides by children and teens, and those deaths are tragic and we must do all we can to prevent them. But any deaths in this age group are relatively rare compared to older generations, kids just don’t die of anything all that much, so small numbers can have an outsized impact on overall percentages. Much attention was paid to a spike in suicides in children and young adults during the pandemic, but in 2022 suicides in these groups returned to pre-pandemic levels.
In 2022 suicides by 10–14-year-olds were down 18% and suicides in the 15–24-year-old age group declined 9%. Meanwhile, the total suicide rate in 2022 reached a record high. The difference was older men.
A recent article in the National Review details the problem. Let me just unpack some of the key points:
The suicide rate in the United States is 14.3 per 100,000. For older men the rate is 44 per 100,000. With rates in other age groups going down, yet the total number going up, the rates of deaths of despair in men is doubly alarming and driving the total number of suicides higher. It’s gotten to the point that men of middle age and older account for 80% of all suicides.
It’s an unspeakable tragedy that after a long life so many men find life not worth living. Yet we must speak of it. Sure, men can be stoic and not reach out for help, but the tragedy is that when they need to, or choose to, help may not be available. Demographics in rural areas skew older and more male. Yet with a higher need for mental health services in these areas, services are likely not available. 50% of the population in the United States lives in an area with no mental health care. I’ve had the experience of dealing with a family doctor for mental health services and God bless them. They try incredibly hard. But they are not prepared or equipped for the complicated psychiatric problems that often lead to suicide.
The national suicide hotline is well equipped, but terribly understaffed. In 2022 there were 2,000,000 calls to 988. Because of understaffing 300,000 on them went unanswered.
The system is not working, at least not for older men. I honestly don’t know the answer. We can look at trends and statistics, but suicide remains a desperately individual, terribly lonely act devoid of hope. I am an older man. Those suffering are my people. But despite the fact that I write on mental health and have lived the worst of bipolar disorder all I can recommend is that we each approach the aging in our lives and listen to them. Ask them their stories. Don’t rush. And come back. Human connection is curative, and I know that many older men, no longer connected to a job, or friends, or even family, could use someone to talk to or even sit quietly with them.
We can learn a lot for our seniors as we help them cope. And hope.
All good points. I think we avoid older people because we don't want to acknowledge that we are going to be them, some day. We are not going to see as well, hear as well, remember as well, and be as agile. So we dismiss older people. We don't see what we have to gain, from their company.