Elderly Suicide Essay

Elderly depression needs to be recognized. “About one third of the seniors who are 65 or older experience depression” (Caruso, 2015). Depression for the elderly can be cause from numerous reasons, such as economic difficulty, loneliness, or because of medical problems. When seniors are usually depressed, they can abuse prescription drugs or commit suicide. Elderly suicide is a high and a very serious problem in today’s society. “At least ages 65 and older account for 13% of the US population and account for18% of all suicide” (Caruso, 2015). Despite the generation and respect for older adults in East Asia, suicide rates for the older people are relatively high. “Countries with high rates of older adult suicide include European Union countries, Canada, the U.S., and several Asian countries, including Japan, Singapore, and Taiwan”( Fässberg, 2012). Particularly disturbing is the high rural suicide rate in China, where it is two to three times higher than in urban areas. “In South Korea, 300% increase among adults older than age 64 years in the past 20 years” (Kim, 2014). This country has …show more content…
Psychiatric disorders, physical illness, functional impairment, and stressful life events, if not taken care of properly can be major factors as well as to why elderly people commit suicide. “Psychiatric disorders make up to 90% of all elderly suicide” (Torresani, 2014). Psychiatric disorders if not medicated properly can make a person overdose on prescription pills, or suffocate themselves. Physical illnesses such as cancer can be beyond painful. When you are diagnosed with it late in your life, treatments don’t really work and patients do not want to go through chemotherapy and waste money and time they don’t have, so they commit suicide to get rid of the pain and make sure loved ones don’t have to watch them