Highest suicide rates among older men in the U.S.

For STAT, Olivia Goldhill reports on an often overlooked demographic.

Meanwhile, another demographic has gone largely overlooked. The people most at risk from suicide aren’t those in crisis in adolescence or midlife, but men age 75 and older. Some 38.2 deaths per 100,000 among men age 75 to 84 are by suicide, which increases to 55.7 among those over 85, according to data from CDC — more than 16 times the suicide rate for women in the same age group. Researchers are calling for a public health effort, much like the one to treat youth mental health, to help address suicide in older men.

Many attribute the recent declines in youth suicides to all the attention paid to the issue, and the ample resources devoted to it, said Mark Salzer, professor of social and behavioral sciences at Temple University. “The same intensive efforts have not been made for older adults where there is a belief among some that depression is a natural part of aging,” he told STAT. “It is not.”

It is also interesting that the rate for older women, which is much lower than it is for men, goes the opposite direction showing a decreasing rate with age.