Adults Aged 25-45 Highest Suicide Risk

Adults Aged 25-45 Highest Suicide Risk

NZMJ Articles Reveal that Adults between the ages of 25 and 45 are Most at Risk of Suicide.

Two review papers published in the New Zealand Medical Journal reveal that adults between the ages of 25 and 45 are most at risk of suicide.

Principal Investigator of the Canterbury Suicide Project Dr Annette Beautrais says that the continued claims that New Zealand has the highest rate of youth suicide in the world are not correct.

‘There is an urgent need to develop a national suicide prevention policy that is applicable to all age groups, and accords all age groups equal levels of care and protection,’ she says. ‘Policies for adults and older adults may need to place less emphasis on childhood, family and social factors and greater emphasis on mental health factors and particularly on the role of depression.’

Dr Beautrais says that, while New Zealand was one of the first countries to develop a national youth suicide prevention strategy, it now lags behind other countries in the area of adult and older adult suicide prevention.

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