SUICIDAL FEELINGS IN A POPULATION-SAMPLE OF NONDEMENTED 85-YEAR-OLDS

Objective: The authors studied the 1-month frequency of suicidal feeli ngs among very old people. Method: A population sample (N=345) of nond emented 85-year-olds in Gothenburg, Sweden, were examined by a psychia trist. Suicidal feelings were rated by the system of Paykel et al. Men tal disorders were diagnosed according to DSM-III-R. Results: Of the m entally healthy subjects (N=225), 4.0% had thought during the last mon th that life was not worth living, 4.0% had had death wishes, and 0.9% had thought of taking their own lives. None had seriously considered suicide. The figures were higher among subjects with mental disorders (N=120): 29.2% had thought that life was not worth living, 27.5% had h ad death wishes, 9.2% had thought about taking their lives, and 1.7% h ad seriously considered suicide. Among the subjects with mental disord ers, including depression, suicidal feelings were associated with grea ter use of anxiolytics but not of antidepressants. Women who felt that life was not worth living had a higher 3-year mortality rate than did women without these feelings (43.2% versus 14.2%). This finding was i ndependent of concomitant physical and mental disorders. Conclusions: Mild suicidal feelings are common in elderly subjects with mental diso rders but infrequent in the mentally healthy. The substantially higher mortality rate in women who felt that life was not worth living, comp ared to women who did not, suggests these feelings must be taken serio usly. Because of the high suicide rate in the elderly, there is a need for better diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders in this age gr oup.