Study Older men particularly vulnerable to suicide

Suicidal: Older men especially suicidal

Every year, around 10,000 people die in Germany. The suicide risk increases with age. Especially in older men the danger is great. According to experts, even simple measures could help dissuade people at risk from their plan.

Every year around 10,000 suicides in Germany

According to a World Health Organization (WHO) report, suicide takes place every 40 seconds worldwide. In Germany alone, around 10,000 people die each year. About 70 percent of them are men. The suicidal risk increases with age. "The average age of a deceased by suicide is around 57 years - with increasing tendency," reports the German Society for Suicide Prevention (DGS) on its website. At the weekend the autumn conference of the DGS took place in Hamburg.

Every year, around 10,000 people commit suicide in Germany. The suicidal risk increases with age. Men are particularly at risk. (Image: Syda Productions / fotolia.com)

Suicide rates in older men are significantly higher

"Suicide carries the hallmark of old age. The highest suicide rates are those over 65 ", says the invitation to the annual meeting of the DGS.

According to the DGS 35 percent of suicides are committed by over 65-year-olds. The age group therefore accounts for 21% of the total population.

According to the Federal Statistical Office, in 2015 a total of 1,065 women and 2,715 men over the age of 65 put an end to their lives.

"The suicide rates of the elderly men are up to five times higher than the average of the normal population," explained conference chair Lindner to the German Press Agency.

Twelve of 100,000 people take their lives every year, and among men over 80, there are around 60.

Pay better for psychotherapeutic offers

According to the experts, nothing has changed in recent years. However, Lindner said in the dpa message: "This is something we can not accept."

The expert called for psychotherapeutic training for staff in institutions for the elderly.

Studies have shown that patients talk about their needs and depression more openly and with trained staff. Even the inconspicuous signals of the patients would have to be recognized.

According to Lindner psychotherapeutic offers should also be better paid.

Lonely and alcohol-dependent senior citizens particularly at risk

According to Lindner, elderly men are particularly vulnerable because they do not find their way into helping structures.

"When they think about putting an end to their lives, the old men are a group that hardly seeks help. They do not even go to the family doctor, "says the geriatric psychotherapist according to dpa.

According to the DGS, the risk is particularly high when the elderly are lonely or alcohol dependent.

And patients often find it difficult to talk about their suicidal thoughts with their doctor or therapist during the treatment of a disease, such as depression, according to the DGS.

According to studies, it is known that people have visited a doctor much more frequently than usual before completing suicide, but the danger of suicide has not been recognized.

"Often the fear is not to be taken seriously, to lose social contacts, to be described as mentally ill and to loss of autonomy through compulsory treatment," writes the DGS.

Suicide prevention measures

The geriatric physician also criticized the public discussion about euthanasia. "The plight of the people who want to commit suicidal assistance should really alarm us as a helper," said Lindner.

He pleaded, according to the press agency, to get away from a "flat discussion of a concept of freedom" and rather to discuss how people actually go, "who are so desperate that even in old age they have no other idea than to put an end to their lives put".

The help could already exist in simple things, for example in so-called awareness (English for "consciousness" or "awareness").

In the clinic where Lindner works, the Albertinen-Haus in Hamburg, it is customary to call patients with suicidal tendencies after their release at regular intervals again.

He says that he also does this according to his own instructions and can, for example, mediate therapy or help the patient in other ways. "None of the called party has hung up so far," said the senior physician.

In addition to the respective treatment options of vulnerable people, there are other measures that can help prevent suicide.

"One of the most effective remedies is - if at all possible - limiting the availability of suicide methods (such as weapons, medicines, chemicals, building protection)," said DGS.

Last but not least, it is also about creating a social climate in which the problem of suicide is taken seriously and seriously. (Ad)