ts), a common occurrence affecting 20 percent of Americans in their lifetimes, to actual suicide, something that affects approximately 12.5 persons per 100,000 each year. While much study has been undertaken to identify the psychological and biological factors that may predispose the individual to suicide, suicide prediction and prevention remain inexact sciences. One problem is that while there are many people who could be considered at high risk for suicide, only a few of them actually attempt it. It is thus impossible to predict which persons will and which persons will not attempt suicide and equally impossible to hospitalize all who could be identified as potential suicides. Most patients would be actively suicidal for only about 24 to 48 hours at most. In addition to the social factors that have been identified as risk factors, chemical messengers in the brain have been studied for what they might say about suicide. Men commit suicide at rates more than three times those of women, and this difference is stable for all ages. Two out of three completed suicides are white males, but women are four times more prone to attempt suicide. This means that men are more successful when they do try, and this is related to the means they choose, such as firearms, hanging, or jumping from high places. Women tend to take an overdose of drugs or a poison, which reduces their chances of being successful.
There is an age component to suicide in that suicide attempts increase with age. For men, suicides increase after age 45, with the greatest number taking place after age 55. The elderly do not attempt suicide as often as younger people, but they are more often successful when they do. The elderly account for 25 percent of all suicides, though they constitute just 10 percent of the total population. Higher social status also means a higher risk of suicide, but a fall in social status also increases the risk. Work helps protect a...