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[Psychodynamic hypothesis about suicidality in elderly men].

Reinhard Lindner¹

¹Therapie-Zentrum für Suizidgefährdete, Klinik für Psychiatrie und Psychotherapie, Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg. lindner@uke.uni-hamburg.de

Psychotherapie, Psychosomatik, Medizinische Psychologie

|September 16, 2009

Summary

Elderly men face unique psychodynamic conflicts contributing to suicidality, often involving lifelong issues with identity, self-esteem, and relationships. Understanding these patterns is crucial for effective intervention in older male suicide.

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Area of Science:

Psychology
Gerontology
Psychiatry

Background:

Older men are disproportionately represented in suicide statistics.
Elderly men access specialized mental health care and psychotherapy less frequently than younger individuals.
Psychodynamic presentations of suicidality in older men are infrequent and often anecdotal.

Observation:

This study qualitatively compared five elderly suicidal men with ideal types of younger suicidal men.
Patients received psychodynamic treatment for suicidality at an academic outpatient clinic.
Key biographical factors included long-term, conflictual relationships and ambivalent familial ties.

Findings:

Suicidality in older men is linked to persistent intrapsychic conflicts regarding male identity, self-esteem, and separation-fusion dynamics.
The body plays a central role, serving as a defense against aggressive impulses, emptiness, and insecurity, exacerbated by aging and illness.
Transference relationships exhibit both typical and age-specific reversed patterns, impacting countertransference.

Implications:

Develop targeted psychodynamic interventions for elderly suicidal men.
Enhance understanding of age-specific transference and countertransference dynamics in therapy.
Address the underutilization of mental health services among older men facing suicidality.