Suicide and aging: International perspectives

From Durkheim to Kraepelin, suicide has been recognized as a social and psy chiatric ill. Among clinical scientists in the United States, interest in s uicide grew substantially in the 1980's as rates among older adults increas ed. However, major advances in the science of mental health seem unlikely t o reduce the prevalence of suicide as long as case recognition at the commu nity level continues to be problematic. Public policy promoted to reduce so cial risk factors coupled with greater attention to psychopathology is the logical outgrowth from the most recent data. Differences in suicide rates b y nation add weight to the argument.