Suicide in Later Life: Recognizing the Warning Signs.

Osgood, Nancy J. Suicide in Later Life: Recognizing the Warning Signs. New York, N.Y.: Lexington Books, 1992.

Suicide among older Americans has reached crisis proportions. The rate of suicide for older persons far surpasses that of adolescent suicide, but it has gone virtually unnoticed. There are indications that this almost invisible phenomenon will become even more prevalent when the baby boomers hit their fifties.

Older persons take their own lives for a variety of reasons--among them illness, loss of loved ones, alcoholism, and loneliness. In many cases it is also preventable; all too often, however, those who are closest miss the warning signs. Dr. Osgood describes the symptoms that adult children, friends, caregivers, social workers, and others should watch for, such as prolonged depression, intentional verbal cues, loss of interest in favorite activities, and mood changes.

Using statistical data and case studies--including the deaths of such figures as Ernest Hemingway and Bruno Bettelheim--Dr. Osgood realistically portrays the problem of late-life suicide and...