Whanganui Chronicle
  • Whanganui Chronicle home
  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology

Locations

  • Taranaki
  • National Park
  • Whakapapa
  • Ohakune
  • Raetihi
  • Taihape
  • Marton
  • Feilding
  • Palmerston North

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • New Plymouth
  • Whanganui
  • Palmertson North
  • Levin

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Whanganui Chronicle

Suicide among the elderly is rising

By Cassandra Mason and Heather McCracken
Whanganui Chronicle·
2 Sep, 2013 06:38 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Statistics suggest suicide among the elderly is on the rise.PHOTO/FILE

Statistics suggest suicide among the elderly is on the rise.PHOTO/FILE

Elderly suicide is not talked about in Wanganui despite statistics which suggest it is rising, a local health expert warns.

The comments follow the release of provisional annual suicide figures showing the highest rate of suicide was among men aged over 85.

The figures, released last week, were for the year ending in June.

The Palmerston North coronial office dealt with 47 suicides in the past year, down from 51 the year before and 53 in 2010/11.

The office covers Palmerston North, Wanganui, Hawera, Levin, Kaikoura, Marlborough, Marton, Motueka, Nelson, New Plymouth, Ohakune, Palmerston North, Taihape, Taumarunui and Waverley.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Wanganui DHB mental health clinical director Frank Rawlinson said elderly suicide was not a topic of discussion, despite comprising more than 9 per cent of all suicides nationwide.

"Certainly, there are a lot of elderly that are lonely, living on their own, disenfranchised, don't have a wider family network ... and is that contributing their suicide?

"It's not really something that we think about when we think about the elderly."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The numbers themselves were small enough that few solid conclusions could be drawn, but Mr Rawlinson thought alcohol and substance abuse was as much of a problem for the old as it was for young.

"The hippies are now old hippies, so the years of abuse haven't necessarily gone away because they've got old."

Wanganui Grey Power president Graham Adams said elderly people were most likely to take their own lives over terminal illness and the realisation: "What's left in life for me? I might as well end it all."

Elderly suicide was not talked about openly and was kept "in-family," he said.

Wanganui Age Concern runs a visiting service to help with social isolation, while Grey Power advocates on behalf of elderly people.

Chief Coroner Judge Neil MacLean said the rates were a surprise, and more attention would be paid to the elderly.

"It is a grey, uncertain area, but we need to know a lot more about it," he said.

Suicide among elderly was sometimes difficult to identify, particularly in cases of "slow suicide".

"That's the person that's starving themselves, refusing their medication, simply giving up the will to live. It merges sometimes with euthanasia and that's a very grey area."

The figures also showed women were catching up to men in suicide rates, with more women and fewer men taking their lives in the past year.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Judge MacLean said the gender shift appeared to be the most significant emerging trend and mirrored the rising number of women involved in violent crime. "I wasn't surprised to see it because I'm aware of the same trend occurring with violent crime."

Suicides among women and girls increased from 142 in 2011/12 to 153 in 2012/13. Among men and boys, the number fell from 405 to 388.

While the female suicide rate per capita was still well below that of males, it had been increasing since 2007.

Suicides in Christchurch city had dropped since the earthquakes, something seen internationally after disasters, but there was concern numbers would trend upwards again.

Judge MacLean said there would be continuing focus on youth, particularly on prompt action in schools, marae and communities after a suicide had occurred, as peers of the victim were at higher risk.

New Zealand's suicide rate remained high by international standards and had stayed "stubbornly the same" for years.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save

    Share this article

Latest from Whanganui Chronicle

Whanganui Chronicle

Kāinga Ora needs to be ‘responsive to need’, says minister

04 Jul 06:00 PM
Whanganui Chronicle

Work begins on key phase of port project

04 Jul 06:00 PM
Whanganui Chronicle

Pop star to speak on new book at Whanganui Literary Fest

04 Jul 04:57 PM

There’s more to Hawai‘i than beaches and buffets – here’s how to see it differently

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Whanganui Chronicle

Kāinga Ora needs to be ‘responsive to need’, says minister

Kāinga Ora needs to be ‘responsive to need’, says minister

04 Jul 06:00 PM

'We want to take a very detailed specific look at what Whanganui needs' – Chris Bishop.

Work begins on key phase of port project

Work begins on key phase of port project

04 Jul 06:00 PM
Pop star to speak on new book at Whanganui Literary Fest

Pop star to speak on new book at Whanganui Literary Fest

04 Jul 04:57 PM
Premium
Gardening: Pruning deciduous fruit trees and roses

Gardening: Pruning deciduous fruit trees and roses

04 Jul 04:00 PM
From early mornings to easy living
sponsored

From early mornings to easy living

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Whanganui Chronicle e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Whanganui Chronicle
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • NZME Events
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP