Getting out of Life… Cultural Traditions and the Modeling Effect in the Suicide of Elderly People

This presentation discussed sociocultural aspects & the role of symbolic models & patterns in elderly suicides. The suicide rate among the elderly in Hungary is very high. Models of suicidal behaviours can be found in anthropology, literature, & folklore. However, in the authors’ investigation of 348 suicides, no evidence was found for a modelling effect among the elderly but was seen in younger age groups. Time-space clustering was seen among younger adults in three different suicide epidemics, including railway suicides during 1975-1989.