e begins to deteriorate. The typical older family today consists only of the husband and wife, and approximately two-thirds of all aged persons are husband-wife couples living alone, most of whom maintain their own households (Cox, 1988). Depner and Ingersoll-Dayton (1985) note that the older the couple becomes, the more support they are likely to require. However, family structures having changed, they are also more likely to have only each other for immediate support, thus placing the burden on the one who has deteriorated the least.
Older Americans kill themselves at a rate higher than their percentage of the population as a whole. People 60 and older represent 18.5 percent of the population of the United States, but they commit 23 percent of all suicides in the nation. There is a stereotypical view of suicide as primarily a problem of the young, but this is a false perception. This pattern is not specific to the United States, though, and a pattern of suicide rates increasing with age can be seen in nearly every country where suicide statistics are maintained. In relation to the size of other age groups in the U.S., the elderly commit suicide the most each year but attempt suicide the least. Older people tend to communicate their suicidal intentions less frequently. They also use lethal weapons more frequently and are generally more successful in killing themselves than the young. The elderly, unlike the young, do not usually use attempted suicide as a means of manipulating other people, of calling attention to themselves, or as a cry for help. Older people also tend to be less ambivalent than the young and so are less likely to be rescued from their suicidal activities (Miller, 1979, 1-2).
Historically, suicide has most often been condoned for the elderly, especially for those who are physically ill or suffering intense pain. This was certainly the case in Roman times, and such commentators as Seneca and Pliny t...