Data concerning suicide rates in the elderly is reviewed. A major finding is that elder attempts are more likely to be lethal. Persons at risk are the unmarried (especially the recently widowed), the involuntarily retired, the physically ill, alcohol abusers, inner city isolates & white males. Geriatric suicides are more traceable to an accumulation of negative events & circumstances than to one specific precipitant. Various aspects of the management of suicide risk are reviewed. 53 Refs. (LH)