Regular Research ArticleIncreased Risk of Attempted Suicide Among Aging Holocaust Survivors
Section snippets
METHODS
The Abarbanel Mental Health Center, Bat-Yam, Israel is affiliated with the Sackler School of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University. The center serves the greater Tel-Aviv area, which is demographically the “oldest” city in the country. At our center, there are 550 inpatient beds and 60 day-patients, as well as a large outpatient clinic. The psychogeriatric division is composed of three inpatient wards (120 beds), an outpatient clinic, a memory clinic, and a consultation service to nursing homes in the
RESULTS
The Abarbanel Mental Health Center serves a catchment area of approximately 680,000 subjects, of which 11.3% are 65 years of age or older. In Israel, there are presently 200,000 Holocaust survivors, including survivors who came to Israel during the wave of immigration from the former Soviet Union.14 Within our center's catchment area, 42% of the elderly citizens are Holocaust survivors, numbering approximately 28,728 subjects.9., 15.
During the study period, there were 921 admissions of elderly
DISCUSSION
The association between the Holocaust experience and suicide has rarely been studied systematically. Healthcare professionals were often taught that within the concentration camps and in the aftermath of WWII, suicide was rare, and survivors had assumed an attitude of “endurance,” thus negating the possibility of suicide. There are very few studies that documented or refuted these beliefs.16., 17., 18., 19. Camp conditions were beyond the endurance of many of the prisoners, and some of them
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Cited by (39)
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in the Elderly
2020, Clinics in Geriatric MedicineCitation Excerpt :In a retrospective study, elderly patients who attempted suicide admitted to an Israeli psychiatric hospital over a 5-year period were compared with admitted elderly patients without an attempt. Of the eligible patients, 24% of Holocaust survivors had attempted suicide compared with 8.2% of those who were not exposed to the conditions of World War II, suggesting a role for trauma in suicidality.9 Older male veterans surveyed regarding current suicidal ideation and past attempts revealed that combat veterans were more likely to contemplate suicide (9.2%) than noncombat veterans (4.0%).
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in the Elderly
2018, Psychiatric Clinics of North AmericaCitation Excerpt :In a retrospective study, elderly patients who attempted suicide admitted to an Israeli psychiatric hospital over a 5-year period were compared with admitted elderly patients without an attempt. Of the eligible patients, 24% of Holocaust survivors had attempted suicide compared with 8.2% of those who were not exposed to the conditions of World War II, suggesting a role for trauma in suicidality.9 Older male veterans surveyed regarding current suicidal ideation and past attempts revealed that combat veterans were more likely to contemplate suicide (9.2%) than noncombat veterans (4.0%).
Lifetime suicidal attempts and current suicidal risk in aging survivors of the Jeju April 3 incident
2018, Journal of Affective DisordersCitation Excerpt :However, the present study revealed that Jeju April 3 survivors with or without depression had higher rates of current suicide risk than did the comparison group with depression. This is consistent with the study conducted by Barak et al. (2005) showing that aging Holocaust survivors were at increased risk of attempting suicide, although the same rates of major depression were found among Holocaust survivors and control subjects. Similarly, Clarke et al. (2004) reported that depressed Holocaust survivors were 52% more likely to suffer suicidal ideation than a depressed non-Holocaust sample.
Stress and Suicide
2009, Encyclopedia of NeuroscienceSurviving the holocaust: A meta-analysis of the long-term sequelae of a genocide
2010, Psychological BulletinSuicidality and suicide in older people
2009, Reviews in Clinical Gerontology