America
Suicide rates rising among older US adults
Washington, Feb 27
Driven primarily by
financial difficulties, suicide rates for adults between 40 and 64 years
of age in the US have risen about 40 percent since 1999, with a sharp
rise since 2007, says a study.
Economic factors were present in 37.5 percent of all suicides in 2010, rising from 32.9 percent in 2005, the findings showed.
"Relative
to other age groups, a larger and increasing proportion of middle-aged
suicides have circumstances associated with job, financial, or legal
distress and are completed using suffocation," noted one of the study
authors Katherine Hempstead from Rutgers University.
One possible
explanation could be the detrimental effects of the economic downturn
of 2007-2009, leading to disproportionate effects on house values,
household finances and retirement savings for that age group.
"The
sharpest increase in external circumstances appears to be related to
the worst years of the Great Recession, consistent with other work
showing a link between deteriorating economic conditions and suicide,"
Hempstead added.
"External circumstances have also increased in
importance among those aged 65 years. Financial difficulties related to
the loss of retirement savings in the stock market crash may explain
some of this trend," Hempstead pointed out.
Using data from the
National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS), researchers were able
to analyse 17 distinct suicide circumstances and four indicators related
to planning and intent.
The suicide circumstances were grouped into three major categories: personal, interpersonal and external.
Examples of personal circumstances are depressed mood, current treatment for a mental health problem or alcohol dependence.
Interpersonal
circumstances include an intimate partner problem, the death of a
friend or being a victim of intimate partner violence.
Examples of external circumstances are a job or financial problem, legal problem or difficulty in school.
The study appeared in the American Journal of Preventive Medici