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Editorial| Volume 31, ISSUE 4, P277-278, April 2023

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Severity of Suicidal Ideation and Mortality in Older Adults: Theoretical and Clinical Implications

  • Patrick J. Raue
    Correspondence
    Send correspondence and reprint requests to Patrick J Raue, Ph.D., Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, 1959 NE Pacific St., Box 356560, Seattle, WA 98195.
    Affiliations
    Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences (PJR), University of Washington, Seattle, WA
    Search for articles by this author
Published:November 11, 2022DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jagp.2022.11.003
Severity of Suicidal Ideation and Mortality in Older Adults: Theoretical and Clinical Implications
Previous ArticleLife-Weariness, Wish to Die, Active Suicidal Ideation, and All-Cause Mortality in Population-Based Samples of Older Adults
Next ArticleSupporting Veterans, Caregivers, and Providers in Rural Regions With Tele-Geriatric Psychiatry Consultation: A Mixed Methods Pilot Study
      The prospective cohort study by Jonson et al
      • Jonson M
      • Sigstrom R
      • Van Orden K
      • et al.
      Life-weariness, wish to die, active suicidal ideation, and all-cause mortality in population-based samples of older adults.
      Am J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2023; 31: 267-276
      in this issue examined the impact of different levels of suicidal ideation on the 3-year all-cause mortality of 2,438 older adults (aged 79+) in Sweden. Previous work has documented that a variety of indicators of suicidal ideation, such as death wishes, are related to mortality in older adults.
      • Batterham PJ
      • Calear AL
      • Mackinnon AJ
      • et al.
      The association between suicidal ideation and increased mortality from natural causes.
      J Affect Disord. 2013; 150 (Epub 2013 Apr 23. PMID: 23618327): 855-860https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2013.03.018
      , 
      • Fagerström C
      • Welmer AK
      • Elmståhl S
      • et al.
      Life weariness, suicidal thoughts and mortality: a sixteen-year longitudinal study among men and women older than 60 years.
      BMC Public Health. 2021; 21 (PMID: 34243751; PMCID: PMC8268207): 1359https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-021-11329-z
      , 
      • Raue PJ
      • Morales KH
      • Post EP
      • et al.
      The wish to die and 5-year mortality in elderly primary care patients.
      Am J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2010; 18 (PMID: 19910882; PMCID: PMC2838995): 341-350https://doi.org/10.1097/JGP.0b013e3181c37cfe
      The current study increases our understanding of possible unique relationships between different levels of passive and active suicidal ideation and mortality. Conceptualizing different gradients of passive suicidal ideation in particular, such as life weariness and wishes to be dead, provides an opportunity to uncover a more fine-grained understanding of these relationships. Life weariness as a less severe variant of passive suicidal ideation than wish to die is an interesting construct–one which may historically be more represented on research scales in comparison to clinical practice. But as the authors point out, these distinctions may be of both theoretical and clinical interest.
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      References

        • Jonson M
        • Sigstrom R
        • Van Orden K
        • et al.
        Life-weariness, wish to die, active suicidal ideation, and all-cause mortality in population-based samples of older adults.
        Am J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2023; 31: 267-276
        View in Article
        • Batterham PJ
        • Calear AL
        • Mackinnon AJ
        • et al.
        The association between suicidal ideation and increased mortality from natural causes.
        J Affect Disord. 2013; 150 (Epub 2013 Apr 23. PMID: 23618327): 855-860https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2013.03.018
        View in Article
        • Fagerström C
        • Welmer AK
        • Elmståhl S
        • et al.
        Life weariness, suicidal thoughts and mortality: a sixteen-year longitudinal study among men and women older than 60 years.
        BMC Public Health. 2021; 21 (PMID: 34243751; PMCID: PMC8268207): 1359https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-021-11329-z
        View in Article
        • Raue PJ
        • Morales KH
        • Post EP
        • et al.
        The wish to die and 5-year mortality in elderly primary care patients.
        Am J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2010; 18 (PMID: 19910882; PMCID: PMC2838995): 341-350https://doi.org/10.1097/JGP.0b013e3181c37cfe
        View in Article

      Article info

      Publication history

      Published online: November 11, 2022
      Accepted: November 7, 2022
      Received: November 4, 2022

      Identification

      DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jagp.2022.11.003

      Copyright

      © 2022 American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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