Older men have a much higher death by suicide risk than same age older women

There are various reasons why men die earlier than women (crimes, dangerous work, war among them). Here is another one, but a disturbing one.

More older women survive their suicide attempts than older men due to their choice of means to commit suicide.

This famous phrase comes to mind: "I'll give you my gun when you pry (or take) it from my cold, dead hands"

"... Meanwhile, another demographic has gone largely overlooked. The people most at risk from suicide aren’t those in crisis in adolescence or midlife, but men age 75 and older. Some 38.2 deaths per 100,000 among men age 75 to 84 are by suicide, which increases to 55.7 among those over 85, according to data from CDC — more than 16 times the suicide rate for women in the same age group. Researchers are calling for a public health effort, much like the one to treat youth mental health, to help address suicide in older men. ...

Suicide rates have risen steadily for two decades among men 55 and older, and researchers are struggling with the question of why, and how to intervene. ...

Chief among them is men’s tool of choice for attempting suicide. Older men are dramatically more likely than older women to die of gun suicides: The rate was 17 times higher for men 75-84, and a staggering 51 times higher for men 85 and older in 2021. ...

That lethality goes a long way toward explaining why many more older men die by suicide despite the fact that men and women over 50 attempt suicide at similar rates, according to 2022 and 2023 data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health. ...

Other reasons for the high rates of suicide among older men are social stressors like retirement, divorce, and financial instability, combined with particularly masculine traits that make these factors harder for them to adapt to. ...

the five D’s: depression, disease, disability, disconnection, and deadly means. Although disease and disability affect both men and women ... it can be harder for men to cope. ...

The primary reason for suicide is loneliness ..."

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An overlooked demographic has the highest suicide risk — and it’s been rising "While prevention efforts focus on the young, men 75 and older are most at risk"