There are patterns of suicide. Epidemiologists who map the trends of disease report, for example, that more children of middle-school age are killing themselves today. The suicide rate for children ages 10 to 14 has more than doubled in the past 15 years, according to statistics compiled by the American Federation for Suicide Prevention. They know also that after a steady decrease from 1950 to 1980 in suicide rates for those older than 65, the rate is on the rise. Actually, the highest suicide rates are found among white men over 50, according to the federation.
Suicide is predominantly a male act.
For every woman who kills herself, four men commit suicide. However, at least twice as many females as males will attempt suicide. The biggest problem to preventing suicide, say McBride, Shneidman and others, is that patients don't seek help because they are ashamed to be labeled mentally ill. Medication for depression is effective most of the time, but many people who suffer from depression refuse treatment, McBride says. So the help that is so easily available to them eludes them, he notes.