Suicides among the elderly

Suicides are a major problem in the modern world. In the literature, they are investigated in their sociological, psychological, health-related, and criminological aspects. The age of the people committing suicide is diverse, with the most vulnerable groups being children and the elderly. Aging is a natural and universal process of life. The changes it causes are gradual, but irreversible at the same time. They involve many spheres of life of an individual. In today's world, there is a cult of youth, resulting in the elderly not being fully respected by the society. Especially in the urban environment, an elderly person is frequently treated as anonymous and often decrepit. The manner in which they generally conform to the requirements of reality influences their aging in a positive or negative way. Retirement, socioeconomic consequences, reduction of life autonomy, the felt loneliness, lack of support on the part of relatives, and diseases may ultimately push an elderly person to committing suicide. Using the Scopus, Wiley Online Library, PubMed and Web of Science repositories in the current study we have carried out an analysis of research literature from 2014-2015 in regard to suicide risk factors and specificity among the elderly.