Kastenbaum R
Arizona State University.
Suicide Life Threat Behav. 1992 Spring;22(1):1-14.
Elderly people who are at high risk for suicide often have characteristics that are associated with reduced opportunity or inclination to communicate (e.g., male, living alone, residing in a low-income transient urban area, suffering from a depressive state). This paper attempts to provide converging perspectives on death and suicide from the standpoints of both the external observer and the elderly person. An interpretation of the statistical pattern is followed by a critique of current policy proposals for limiting society's response to the needs of vulnerable people on the basis of a "natural life span." Studies of elderly people themselves reveal a great diversity of attitudes toward death that is not well served by generalizations and stereotypes. However, it appears that stressful conditions of life arouse more anxiety among older people than does the prospect of death.
自杀风险高的老年人通常具有一些与沟通机会减少或意愿降低相关的特征（例如，男性、独居、居住在低收入的城市流动人口区域、患有抑郁状态）。本文试图从外部观察者和老年人自身这两个角度，就死亡和自杀问题提供多方面的观点。在对统计模式进行解读之后，本文基于“自然寿命”对当前限制社会回应弱势群体需求的政策提议进行了批判。对老年人自身的研究表明，他们对死亡的态度极为多样，难以用一概而论的观点和刻板印象来概括。然而，生活中的压力状况似乎比死亡前景更能引发老年人的焦虑。
