risk factors
Last reviewed 01/2018
Risk factors for suicide in the elderly include:
- social factors:
- male sex
- social isolation:
- living alone
- widow/widower
- marital problems
- financial difficulties
- psychiatric disease:
- depression
- substance abuse:
- alcohol
- other drugs
- schizophrenia
- previous history of deliberate self harm
- organic disease:
- physical illness
- hospitalisation or threat of hospitalisation