Editorial: A tragic statistic

Wednesday, Aug. 8, 2007 | 7:21 a.m.

Nevada's senior citizens commit suicide at a rate nearly three times the national average, but little is known as to why such a high rate of these tragedies occurs.

According to a story by the Las Vegas Sun on Sunday, figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that the suicide rate among people in Nevada 75 and older was 48 per 100,000 from 1999 to 2004. The national rate for the same period was 17 per 100,000.

Social service experts told Sun reporters Marshall Allen and Alex Richards that isolation could contribute to the higher suicide rate among Nevada's aging population. People move here from other areas, leaving behind family and friends who could help them cope when, for example, daily tasks become difficult or they are left alone after a spouse dies.

But the problem doesn't receive a lot of public attention, Laurie Moore, director of the Senior Mental Health Outreach Program, told the Sun. Astonishingly, suicide among older people is somewhat more acceptable to society than such deaths among young people, she said.

In addition, Moore told the Sun, Nevada's mental health services haven't kept up with the population's growth. It can take three months for a person without health insurance to get a psychiatrist's appointment.

That's not acceptable. If a person were having a heart attack, emergency room care would be immediately available. Mental illness can be just as deadly as a physical ailment, but it is not given the same priority in funding or outreach.

In July, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., introduced the Stop Senior Suicide Act, which calls on the Health and Human Services Department to form a council to recommend methods for integrating mental health and suicide prevention into other services for the aging . The law also would provide grants for organizations to create suicide prevention programs for the elderly.

Despite the fact that the largest segment of our nation's population - the Baby Boom generation - started turning 60 last year, we live in a very youth-oriented society. And we need to more adequately address the difficulties of growing older, and take better care of our elders, especially when they are hurting.