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Raising awareness of suicide among the elderly

-Messenger photo by Courtney Sogard
Jodi Harms leads her Healthy Connections: Suicide Talk presenation at the Kendall Young Library Thursday afternoon, going over some of the possible warning signs of suicide in senior citizens.

WEBSTER CITY — Suicide is a not only a topic of concern for youths, but something that impacts senior citizens as well.

Jodi Harms, from Van Diest Medical Center’s Senior Life Solutions, discussed suicide and how it affects the elderly during a program offered at Kendall Young Library on Thursday.

The program was a Healthy Connections Talk, the goal of which is to raise awareness to a topic that not everyone is comfortable talking about, a topic that was once considered taboo for most, and would only be discussed in whispered confidences amongst friends, said Harms.

Today is a different story, she said. Where before, people would keep such issues to themselves, now it’s “not just a whisper, there is a voice to the cause now.”

Harms’ own shirt bears the saying: “Be the Voice.”

According to Harms, each year there are reportedly 44,965 Americans who will go through with the act of suicide.

She said suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the United States.

Senior citizens are at risk to a degreee that is 50 percent higher than the national average; 85 percent of suicides by the elderly are carried out mainly by white males, she said.

A factor that drives the numbers of elderly suicides is having a diagnosable mental illness, she said, citing statistics that show between 66 to 90 percent of elderly suicides are related to mental health issues.

The National Institute of Health states that depression is commonly associated with suicide in elderly adults. Some ways in which depression differs in the elderly than in other age groups is the higher comorbidity in physical or mental illness, which is when one or more diseases or disorders is concurrent with their depression.

Senior citizens may also become more obstinate when it comes to their treatment plans. Also, some medications can wreak havoc on other medications they are taking, making the medication used to treat their depression ineffective.

Here are some tips Harms offered:

• Ask the question of whether they want to harm themselves.

• Listen actively to what they have to say.

• Persuade them to seek the appropriate help needed.

• Involve others.

• Accompany the person to get the help they desperately need.

• Make a referral for them to seek professional help.

The Senior Life Solutions program assists in helping those who are struggling or facing challenges during the aging process, Harms said.

Another avenue for help is the Mobile Crisis Response service, which provides teams of professionals in multiple counties in Iowa, including Hamilton, “on-site, face-to-face mental health services for an individual or family experiencing a mental health crisis,” according to Harms. Anyone can reach out to the Mobile Crisis Response team by calling the Central Iowa Crisis Line at 844-258-8858.

And yet another organization to reach out to is The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 or call 911 immediately if a suicidal situation arises.

In 2012 alone, The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline received 800,000 calls.

Harms wants to instill to the public that “elderly suicide is not part of the natural course of aging and is very often the result of untreated depression. Elderly depression needs to be recognized and treated. All patients expressing a wish to die need to be screened for depression and cognitive impairment and elderly suicide is preventable.”

“It’s always better to be safe than sorry when dealing with someone who is expressing suicidal ideation,” said Harms. “Don’t live with the regret when something could’ve been done to prevent the loss of a loved one, after it’s too late to reach out.”

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