Physical, psychological and sexual abuse have been found to be risk factors for suicide in adolescents and adults (
Not surprised that this query drew no responses or followers as there is virtually no literature (and seemingly no interest). Fox (2012) noted that "the relationship between elder abuse and suicide is unexplored..." The National Center for Elder Abuse (US DHHS) asked "Is there a relationship between suicide and elder abuse?" in a research agenda issue a few years back. Further back Conwell (1995) contributed a column on the topic to Crisis, but did not cite an explicit link. I intend to press on, but in the interim wrote the attached information sheet for the elder services providers in my locale which sums up my case for treating elder abuse as a suicide risk factor.
I am also not surprised that the responses to your question gathered no grass.
The literature is limited in elder abuse as the first statement. Secondly, the role of ageism is also under studied and acknowledged.
The issue of suicide in the elderly extends across the board. There are a number of studies related to suicide in the elderly that could have been prevented if the PCP had even asked about mood and feelings of sadness.
You have asked a critically important question.
Kathleen:
Thanks for your comments and support. I concur that "the issue of suicide in the elderly extends across the board." Similarly the issue of suicide among victims of abuse would seem to as well as evident in what I found in that literature:
Intimate partner violence and suicide appear linked in adult females of varying ages. Women who have been victims of intimate partner violence and who have a chronic illness or disability have an increased risk of threatening or attempting suicide (Cavanaugh et al., 2011). Women 55 years of age and older who had been discharged from inpatient psychiatric care and who were abused in the past or at present displayed a significantly higher incidence of suicidal behavior (Osgood & Manetta, 2001). Women who experience intimate partner violence, particularly sexual abuse, are at risk for suicidal ideation or behavior (Simon et al., 2002). Studies of domestic violence cases in hospital emergency rooms have found battered women to more likely have histories of past or present suicidal behavior (Abbott et al., 1995; McCoy, 1996). One emergency room study urged that “domestic assault patients should be asked about suicidal ideation” (Boyle et al., 2006).
For the 4-5 other people in the world interested in this topic (generous estimate), here is a link to 2010 Korean study (looks like only the abstract is available in English).
http://agris.fao.org/agris-search/search%20.do?recordID=KR2011003650
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