6. Reasons to commit suicide
The reasons to take their own life broadly fall into five main
categories. Three of these categories are health-related (physical
health problem, inability to function independently and fear of
rest home) and were observed in 15 (33.3%) people. (Table 2)
6 people were in the 65-79 years age group (28.6% of this age
group); while 9 people were in the 80þ age group (37.5% of this
age group).
Information on physical conditions (malignancy, terminal illness,
severe illness and/or physical disability and pain) was collected
from other parts of the coronial records for these 15 people.
(Table 3) 11 people (73.3%) were stated to have underlying medical
problems in their coronial records.-4 people were in the 65-79
years age group (66.7% of this age group); while 7 people were in
the 80þ age group (77.7% of this age group).