Suicide in the Elderly : A Practitioner’s Guide to Diagnosis and Mental Health Intervention

There are few gaps and overlaps in this edited work. The chapters fit together to form a comprehensive review of the information and techniques relevant to the study, assessment, and management of suicidal risk in later life. Only the introduction and first chapter are concerned with demographic data. The latter also uses case material to profile those at risk, such as the divorced, alcoholic white male. The remainder of the nearly dozen chapters are generally practical for the clinician: assessment (depression, well-being, and suicidal risk), prevention (psychotherapy, stress management, and societal changes), and management (psychotropics, support groups, reminiscence, and creative therapies such as art, music, movement, etc).

CONTENTS:
Suicide susceptibility: diagnosis and assessment
A profile of "at-risk" elderly
Depression in the elderly: etiology and assessment
Assessment of personal well-being in the elderly
Assessing suicidal risk in the elderly: the role of the practitioner
Suicide prevention: intervention techniques and strategies
The role of the practitioner
Pharmacological interventions
Support groups
Reminiscence and life review therapy
Creative therapy
Managing tension and coping with stress in late life
Societal changes and the prevention of elderly suicide.