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Winter 2009/10 | Vol 13 No 2

Research update

Mark de la Hey

Suicide risk among older adults related to personality

Older adults who are considered strong-willed, obstinate and controlling, and who are reluctant to share their feelings appear to have an elevated risk of suicide, according to new research from the Oslo University Hospital in Norway. Researchers conducted qualitative interviews with 63 informants (relatives, family doctors and home care nurses) regarding 23 people over age 65 who had committed suicide. Many of them could be characterized as “survivors,” with more than half experiencing illness, poverty or loss of close relatives in childhood or adolescence, and many also had to cope with similar hardships later in life. These older adults tended to be action-oriented achievers whose lives revolved around their work. Most informants characterized them as strong-willed and obstinate individuals who were very controlling in their relationships with others. They were generally reluctant to share their feelings and kept a distance in their relationships. Their need to control their surroundings, as well as their inability to accept their own limitations and need for help, may have left these older adults unable to adapt to changing circumstances later in life and to develop new coping skills. In light of their findings, the authors conclude that therapy for older adults at risk for suicide should aim to “ensure that elderly people are given confirmation of their personal value when their functional capacities and ability to take action diminish.”

International Psychogeriatrics, October 2009, v. 21: 903–912. Ildri Kjølseth et al., RVTS, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway.