33 24TH ANNUAL CRIME PREVENTION GUIDE SUICIDE AMONG SENIORS People 65 years and older, particularly men, have the highest suicide rate of any other group. This contradicts a popular misconception that the highest rate is among the young. The Baby Boomers (those born between 1946 and 1964) have had higher suicide rates than previous generations. They are amongst the largest population cohorts in Canada and have just begun entering the 65 and over age range. This could translate into a tremendous increase in suicides in the coming years. (Canadian Coalition for Mental Health, 2008) Men 65 and older have the highest suicide rate in Canada. Men 90 years and older have the highest rate of all - 33.1 per 100,000. (Statistics Canada, 2008) Suicide Attempts and Suicides Young people: 200+ attempts for every suicide General population: 100+ attempts for every suicide +65 adults: 2-4 attempts for every suicide (Marcus, 1996) Why? • Older adults’ intentions are harder to gauge - they tend to talk about it (suicide) less, display less equivocal warning signs • Social isolation – many live alone so there is less chance of survival in an attempt • Tend to use more lethal means (like firearms) when attempting suicide • Cause of death may be less rigorously investigated in older persons Centre for Suicide Prevention, Copyright 2013 © First Nations (status and non-status peoples), the Inuit and Métis are collectively referred to as Aboriginal people. Aboriginal people in Canada have some of the highest suicide rates in the world, but this is not true for all Aboriginal peoples. There are also many communities that have very low rates of suicide. Historically, suicide was a very rare occurrence amongst First Nations and Inuit (Kirmayer, 2007). It was only after contact with Europeans and the subsequent effects of colonialism that suicide became prevalent. In the 2006 Census, a total of 1,172,790 people in Canada identified themselves as Aboriginal persons. A National Household Survey (NHS) in 2011 showed that 1,400,685 people in Canada identified themselves as SUICIDE AMONG CANADA’S ABORIGINAL PEOPLES Aboriginal persons. This represents 4.3% of the national population. The 2011 statistics show an Aboriginal population increase of 20.1% between 2006 and 2011, compared with 5.2% for the nonAboriginal population (Statistics Canada, 2013). Suicide and self-inflicted injuries are the leading causes of death for First Nations youth and adults up to 44 years of age. Approximately 55% of all Aboriginal people are under 25 years of age. The suicide rate for First Nations male youth (age 15-24) is 126 per 100,000 compared to 24 per 100,000 for non-Aboriginal male youth. For First Nations females, the suicide rate is 35 per 100,000 compared to 5 per 100,000 for nonAboriginal females (Health Canada, 2010). Suicide rates for Inuit youth are among the highest in the world, at 11 times the national average. Centre for Suicide Prevention, Copyright 2013 © ■ ■
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