Australia’s elderly men the greatest suicide risk

Australian men remain much more likely to take their own lives than women, although the national suicide rate has dropped 40% between 1997 and 2006.

Men over the age of 85  are significantly more likely than any other demographic group – including teenage boys and men in their early 20s – who commit suicide.

The latest Australian Bureau of Statistics figures showed that the national suicide rate dropped from a peak of 14.7 suicides per 100,000 people in 1997 to 8.7 per 100,000 in 2006, with men accounting for 78% and elderly men above 85 being seven times more likely than elderly women in the same age bracket, to take their own lives.

Professor John Macdonald, director of the University of Western Sydney’s Men’s Health Information and Resource Centre, said the high rate among elderly men was because of the despair that came with losing contact with the world.

“I think it is the lack of social support. If you have lost contact with your partner and children and no longer have work as a social context it can be a very grim life”.

Professor Macdonald said that on average, five men and one woman kill themselves every day in Australia.

“Some of them, tragically, are mentally ill, but our work shows that a lot of people come to despair through a combination of factors including separation from spouses and children, job losses, and drug and alcohol use”.

The ABS data showed the highest regional suicide rates for both men and women were in Tasmania, followed closely by the Northern Territory.

Australians living in rural communities had higher rates of suicide than those in the cities.