Baby Boomers committing suicide at unprecedented rates

The Baby Boomers - the generation born after the Second World War, who were hippies and flower children in the 1960s and 70s, corporate greedheads in the 1980s, who controlled western civilisation through the 90s and noughties and are now reaching retirement age - are committing suicide in unprecedented numbers. The suicide …

[Keith T]

The cut-off is 1960 or 64, depending on who you ask

Baby boomers are the children of people who went off to WWII and began having children after WWII. So 1949 to 1960 or 64, depending on who you ask.

[heyrick]

What's wrong with this picture?

I'd be inclined to agree with AC at the top that since "9/11" (or thereabouts) the world has gone to hell in a handbasket...

...but on the other hand, maybe it is when they realise how poor their pensions will be, coupled with ever-increasing difficulty in finding final work or promotions due to being "too old"?

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: "What's wrong with this picture?"

Or perhaps people have finally realized (possibly subconsciously) since "9/11" that their own governments really are full of puppets of non-entity, and that the use of a pencil every four years isn't worth a rat's fart.

[Seanie Ryan]

substance abuse and loss of investments

I remember reading a study some time back that predicted this. Substance abuse that boosts the production of serotonin in the body makes you feel good, but apparently, if you take enough of it, the body stops naturally producing serotonin and in many cases, it just never restarts.

So once you "grow up" and stop using, you now have no natural way to feel good. You just feel neutral or bad. New grandson? Meh.

and now that many of those have seen the value of their pensions and property investments evaporate, a way out is better than the shame of admitting to the family and peers that they think they have failed.

years of wisdom and fireside tales lost.

[Keith T]

Substance abuse not that new

There was substance abuse before the days of flower children.

People abused grain and wood alcohol, even gasoline. And cocaine has been abused for centuries.

For other narcotics, think of Sherlock Holmes. Opiates weren't controlled as they began to be in the 1960s, and use was common place.

[Seanie Ryan]

slight difference

"Substance abuse that boosts the production of serotonin" is a subset of Substance abuse.

I'm mainly pointing at items like ecstacy.

also substance abuse has dramatically increased in the last 30-40 years.

[Chris Byers]

I thought I was Generation X?

At 40 (born 1970) to baby boomers I'm pretty sure I am one of Generation X (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generation_x).

As for why they are topping themselves? Perhaps a legacy of finacial ruin, CCTV, junk food run amok and the dashing of the hopes and dreams of the following generations may be reason enough? It's a gross over simplification of course, but I await with glee the enforced guilt dramas about the nastyness of the baby boomers in a series of BBC dramas over the coming years. After all, it's only fair that whilst they made documentaries and dramas making my generation feel bad about slavery, racisim, the empire and a whole raft of other subjects we had nothing to do with that perhaps it's payback time?

[John H Woods]

No context ...

... no meaning. For instance, when compared to the previous generation, it is much more likely that someone in this age group knows that they have a terminal condition - or one, such as alzheimers, that could ruin their children's lives. Compared to the previous generation, they didn't have the bizarrely life-affirming experience of surviving the war. Or maybe, as suggested by Joe K, they don't fear going to hell - just living through it.

[LaeMing]

Yes.

It would be telling to know how many of these suicides are in preference to an anticipated drawn-out painful death.

[Anonymous Coward]

oh how terrible

what kind of food will they have at the funeral?

[Gannon (J.) Dick]

I've only read ....

... the comments this far to see if someone would provide a helpful link for nominations. I'd not gotten to the food question.

Shame on you for such a thought!

(if you run across a nominations link, let me know, won't you ?)

[Anonymous John]

Title

Perhaps they've (we're) just tired of being called baby boomers.

[Anonymous Coward]

Not All Baby Boomers

I think this report is targeting middle-class baby boomers since my parents, aunts and uncles are all better off now after having a pretty rough working class childhood - way too many stories about tripe spring to mind.

[Anonymous Coward]

Nah...

It's coz Radio 4 pushes Apple products and, man! they're depressing.

[Anonymous Coward]

wake up and smell the coffee!

I'm one of those "boomers".

Lots of "hippies" got suckered into the pyramid scheme known as mortgages. Recent events have pulled the rug on that one.

Even my "greenest" chums bought a dishwasher 30 seconds after starting a family.

I think that it has dawned on them that the world is now officially f***ed due to the amount of crap being generated by their 4x4 driving offspring.

My 2 cents.

[ian 22]

Live fast, die young, leave a good-looking corpse

This is their last chance to leave a good looking corpse. Simples.

[Ian Stephenson]

Really? Two out of three aint bad.

I've always subscribed to the Live fast, die young, leave a terrible mess for someone else to clear up.

It appears most others have too.

[truetalk]

Perspective & locality, stats don't you just love em..

Whilst there is an increase in suicides, I believe it's double (although it's not easy to find any numbers in that article). The headline does make it sound like half the population over 40 are in the throws of topping themselves...

In reality, if I have got the figures correct (probably not) it's about 0.003%-0.006% of the population of the United States (ie not the United Kingdom or Europe). That's about 2500-5000 people amongst a population of 250,000,000 over a period of eight years. During the same period 28,000,000 people died in the US of other causes. (estimate).

As the article is a study of the USA, you can't assume this applies to the rest of the world. It's quite possible that us boomers in the UK are mostly happy (although we like a good moan) because we have a state that looks after us a bit better when we get ill (even if we are poor) than the US goverment looks after the US citizen ?. It doesn't matter if it's a labour goverment or conservative they both generally do a better job of looking after those who need help (most of the time) in the UK. But maybe that has nothing to do with why there is an increase in the suicide rate in the USA. You'll only know if you do a study of the circumstances of that persons life and death.

As 28,000,000 died of other causes during the same period perhaps the time and money & studies be spend on the biggest causes of death (which isn't suicides).

[Keith T]

The baby boom is mostly a north american thing

I recall reading that the baby boom is mostly a North American thing.

Obviously South American men weren't away in WWII, so no post war pregnancy boom.

[John Smith 19]

@truetalk

For perspective in the US the #1 killer of people from 25-44 is severe *trauma* IE car crashes, shootings, fatal beatings by spouses/money lenders/random street gangs.

*None* of that is self inflicted and I would not call *any* of it "natural".

[Anonymous Coward]

Easy answer

These people were part of the most advantaged generation of all time. They grew up after the last great war, in the country that reaped all the spoils. They became tremendously wealthy, and put all their money into their 401ks and houses. Since the turn of the millennium their portfolios have taken a beating, and after the housing bust their million dollar properties aren't worth half that. Inflation is set to take off, and they just can't afford retirement.

But as for it being bad news that they are topping themselves? From an socio/economic standpoint that would be a good thing, right? Less expenditures on benefits?

[Anonymous Coward]

@Easy answer

I think you'd need a lot more than 0.003%-0.006% of the population (going on the numbers from truetalk above) to make any difference to the economics.

Obesity might make a difference though, given the high rate in the developed world as the lardasses pulmonary systems give up prematurely for one reason or another.

[Keith T]

You have all these retirement savings looking for something to invest in

You have all these retirement savings looking for something to invest in.

Money becomes worthless and interest rates plummet.

It wasn't all good being in the baby boom either.

Remember that we all faced overcrowded schools.

The people on the leading edge of the baby boom were able to get in and have terrific careers. The people in the middle and the trailing edge have always been locked out of easy promotions by people who aren't retiring because they are just a few years older than us.

[Pete 2]

Not just luck

> leading edge of the baby boom were able to get in and have terrific careers

Mostly I think the people who did well out of the BB are the ones who worked hard and had a lot of talent. it wasn't the pure dumb luck of being in the right place at the right time (though as prosperity increased during the 50 s and 60s, that helped) - it was having the right skills, working long hours doing difficult jobs in risky industries that got them to the top. Just as it does with the winners in any generation

[Dagg]

So Very True!

>The people in the middle and the trailing edge have always been locked out of easy promotions by people who aren't retiring because they are just a few years older than us.

They (the early boomers) also got the cheap housing and then made profits selling it to us the late boomers! By the time my genitalia dropped all the free love had finished.

[Keith T]

A lot of us boomers didn't meet our expectations

A lot of us boomers more or less didn't meet our expectations.

We lost our idealism, trading it for a career. We had huge expectations for our careers, but the careers didn't go so well.

So we are less wealthy than our parents, facing unsecure retirement years, and we didn't begin to pursue our original idealistic goals.

We see ourselves as big disappointments, so it is not surprising we are knocking ourselves off.

In my case, I was depressed until I got a serious incurable illness.

When nature wants to kill you off, all of a sudden you want to live. It makes no sense, but there you go.

[truetalk]

It was Murder !

Looking at it from a different angle. Maybe these were not suicides, they were just made to look like suicides. Perhaps all that C.S.I. stuff is a load of Hokum and in reality the US police don't actually have the time and resources to investigate suspected suicides... after all, these are rich baby boomers....

( I watch a lot of Poirot )

[James Thomas]

Agrreed!

This sort of socially responsible voluntary euthenasia should be encouraged!

[Anonymous Coward]

Not a mothers union then,

more a collection of Stepford wives, what a bunch of boring old farts you are.!!!!!!!

[Anonymous Coward]

Not really A Baby Boomer myself ...

<oldfartalert>

I'm not really a Boomer, not at 51. But I quite understand why some people my age and a little bit older are topping themselves and its quite simple: they're bored. Utterly, stupefyingly bored with modern life. In spite of all the perceived so-called good stuff these days, the world today is in fact stunningly low-brow -- and most of the people in it are vacuous, castrated dullards. The standards of public life are at an all-time low (I wouldn't mind politicians being crooks if they were interesting crooks) but this lot are fucking retarded. Or so it seems to me.

Given this, you have two choices. Gradually retreat into the culture of the past (there's lots of that) or call it a day.

Personally I am never bored and think it shows a lack of imagination to be so but I can honestly see how some people have had enough these days.

</oldfartalert>

[Al fazed]

FOAD

At the end of the day, does it really matter if death comes at our bidding, when we are ready, or are we still that frightened of god that putting up with this shit, in this place, until nature takes it's course, is a seen as the better option ?

I've experienced a war throughout so called peace time, continuous since 1945, along with world polution, the endangerment and extinction of wild animals, torture of domestic dogs and rabbits in the name of science, rape and pillage of the worlds resources to enrich fat bastard humans desire for more and more, and then you make it sound like it's the same rich fat bastards that are committing suicide.

I'd have thought it was more likely to be those who are being bitten by the recession, dinner of the super rich, those who have nothing or very little to look forward to in their longer life, other than being a huge financial burden on their already over taxed children.

WTF ?

You still haven't worked it out ?

Life's a bitch and then you die !

What's so wrong with that ?

FOAD ? Why not ? Is there something better on offer that I've missed ?

ALF

[Anonymous Coward]

Probably Depressed

Probably depressed at the sight of their ignorant, self-obsessed, shallow offspring.

[Nigel 11]

Could it be the drugs?

Might it be something to do with the widespread use of recreational psychoactive drugs? Maybe one or more of the common "recreational" drugs are to one's long-term mental health, what asbestos is to one's long-term lung health.

Or even medicaly prescribed psychoactives? I read somewhere once, that one in three of the USA middle classes are on some form of psychoactive medication. I found that quite scary (if true).

Beer - tried and tested for millennia, safe for most of us. (Moderate drinking raises life expectancy).

[Dagg]

Beer

>Beer - tried and tested for millennia, safe for most of us. (Moderate drinking raises life expectancy).

Also helps ugly people breed!

[Gareth Gouldstone]

Socially responsible adults, I say

This is simply the realisation that living to a 'ripe old age' is likely to mean dribbling and shitting your way off of this mortal coil at the expense of future generations and irreplaceable resources (oil for heating and washing). I would hope to choose a more dignified exit at a time of my own choosing, too.

[LaeMing]

I have every intention of choosing my own time

though I am not expecting to need to do so for quite a number of decades yet.

Compared to described above, being dead - which I am pretty sure feels just like not-having-been-born-yet (and I spent an awrful long time not noticing being in that state) is preferable!

[Neil Barnes]

...hadn't previously tended to kill themselves a lot.

Nah. In Olden Tymes[tm], just the once was considered enough.

Alright, I'm going, the one with the Kevorkian Do Yourself In kit in the pocket, thanks.

[Foosinator]

Lies, damn lies, and statistics

Of course, how you state the information can make anything sound much better or worse than it really is.

For example: This article says the "rates" are much higher now? What do they mean by rates?

If they mean that twice as many suicides per 1000 in that age group, then that might indeed be a trend, but knowing the press, it could just as easily be twice as many suicides per year, which means nothing when the population of the age groups themselves fluctuates so much.

And, yes, stating the actual statistics, especially the kinds of units involved, can make a big difference in the believability of an article.

[Ned Ludd]

Time to die...

Going through life thinking you're part of Generation X, only to be told halfway through that you're actually a Baby Boomer is surely enough to make one suicidal!

[Northumbrian]

An outbreak of rationality?

The Boomers are the first generation to watch their parents succumbing to dementia in large numbers - 1in 4? something like that. Now, if you think that a similar fate is coming your way, then you might well decide that you'll skip it.

Dementia can be just distressing - I watched a family member just get weaker and more confused, but she remained herself. Another older one spent two years trying to spoon food into the mouths of invisible children, and fretting because they hadn't been bathed. Frightening. At that point you may feel that God has already taken the person away, and left the body behind.

So maybe they just took a look at the way the party was going and decided it was time to go home.

I'm rather dubious about this, "rejecting the gift of life," bit when it came to suicide. I'm old enough to remember when tea came out of teapots, and often there will still tea leaves in your cup. No hostess would expect you to drink the last drop of tea with the dregs in it - you left the last bit in the cup, because it wasn't fit to drink. I understand port drinkers did the same.

So why would God demand that you should eat every bit of meat - even the gristle, or all of the apple without discarding the core?

Maybe the suicidal have just decided that they will kill themselves whilst still can - if you wait until you're really ill then you can't kill yourself and no one is allowed to help you. No, our current law in the UK has a simple message - if you think you might want out, then do it whilst you're fit and healthy.

Of course, the "Boomers" might simply realise that everyone aged 30-45 now wants their parents dead as soon as possible to get hold of the money before its wasted on someone else's enjoyment or health care. Some of them love their kids enough to oblige.

[Farmfood]

Good grief, do you read your own copy?

40-59 in the year 2000 -- baby Boomer, maybe. 2010? -- sod off.

I'm 39 years old and therefore going through a sensitive and highly personal mid-life crisis. But I will not accept that I'm also a borderline Baby Boomer. My Dad was a Baby Boomer. I'm simply a Sad Bastard.

[Dagg]

Boomers 40 to 59?

Yea, right. If you are that age you actually missed out on the 60s and the hippy period. At 40 you were born in 1970, the sixties and the hippy period were well over. You could actually be a child of a hippy couple. 50 means your were born in 1960 and so were a child during the sixties. Yea all that free love! Only if you are over 50 did you have a possible chance to enjoy it all. The boomers that are over 60 are the ones that had the best of it!

I think the reason the 40-59 are topping themselves is they missed out on it all.

[Anonymous Coward]

Causes, anyone?

Not once in the article or subsequent comments has anyone mentioned mental health. No wonder the stats are what they are when the medical conditions surrounding suicide are minimized or ignored by so many folks.

The condescending tone of the article is breathtaking (Lewis?!), the research somewhat less so since it has to have an appearance of scientific method. I note that mental health diagnoses were not addressed in the research either. Glib assumptions about cultural causes isn't going to contribute to ground based solutions nor help educate people about the risks of depression and mood disorders. Count yourselves at risk then, and good luck with that.

[Northumbrian]

Substance abuse?

Several of the posters have mentioned "substance abuse" and I think one of the most common side effects is supposed to be mental health disorders.

This could account for the growing numbers of those killing themselves as a result of mental health problems.

I think perhaps that the numbers with mental health problems from more traditional causes (bad genes, bad luck) would not have changed very much over the decades, so they would not account for the increase.

[John Smith 19]

But they had so much left still to contribute

At *least* another 10-20 years of social security payments.

From a government PoV the *perfect* age to die is

1 day before you start claiming a government paid pension.

[Michael H.F. Wilkinson]

For me "Baby boomers" always creates mental images

of infants going through the sound barrier.

And that's without any substance abuse

[Anonymous Coward]

(untitled)

It appears one doesn't have to read too far down this list of comments to spot a load of "I want to blame the last generation" nonsense being sprouted. The 'baby boomer' generation has not just taken; many have given much in taxes, and built up pensions that then are reneged on because the company apparently hasn't bothered to fund it properly, and find when they need to be helped from society rather than give, the rules change and it's a case of, "oh you did well, prudently went without to put money aside, well in that case you can spend it, we have some who couldn't and many who didn't bother to fund so sod you for being a decent person".

It is the 'baby boomer' generation that has funded and often continues to do so, the present one when they need help, but now sees just resentment in return. Nonsense about the younger generation having to fund the pensions of the older one. It has always been the case with state pensions that those in employment have to generate the wealth for all. It wasn't different before, it shouldn't change now. The 'baby boomer' generation should not be made the scapegoats because other generations don't want to take up their responsibility as the past ones did.

As for the point of the article, my suspicion is that it is partly down to expectations. One expects the previous generations to have had things harder, but expects future ones to have things better. Otherwise we are not progressing. Then after slogging away all their working life they find just more government interference and a "we don't care about you" attitude. And many ask what is the point of it all.

[Al 4]

Unemployment a big factor

There was an article in the NY Times titled "Older Unemployed Struggle to Rejoin the Work Force", http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/20/business/economy/20older.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=For%20the%20Unemployed%20Over%2050&st=Search, refers to them as the new poor. Out of work, untrained for jobs that haven't been shipped overseas, pensions raided by Wall Street, and having to take jobs like greeters at Wallmart or worse and an average unemployed spell of 37 weeks and getting larger. This is a group that is seriously depressed. These are the ones that are committing suicide in numbers due to a bleak future. There may be other factors but this is the biggest I know of. It's also the group that politicians should be careful of because most I know still vote and aren't happy with either party.

[vagabonde]

The golden years?

It’s no longer turning out to be the golden years of your life but the nightmare of your life.

It wasn’t suppose to be like this, but with the recent economic travails and upheaval in society and mores, one generation has been struggling to come to terms with their current lot and failing miserably.

http://scallywagandvagabond.com/2010/09/baby-boomers-committing-suicide-at-unprecedented-rates/

[Anonymous Coward]

uh, someone born in 1970 is NOT a boomer

Uh, I think you need to review your math. Someone who is 40 today was born in 1970. That would pretty much disqualify them as either 60's hippie, a 70's war protester or an 80s Wall Street sociopath, since they would have been 10 years old in 1980...

You're stuck at a time when middle age equaled baby boomer. Flower children and hippies were 18-29 in 1963-1974. That puts their birthdates at 1954 at the latest and more likely 1945.

If 40 year olds are committing suicide, then that's generation X. The cause is likely job loss at the critical age in which they ought to be making the most money in preparation for retirement.

The Wall Street boomers are still fat and happy , getting ready to once again suck this world for more than they ever gave in the form of social security while leaving future generations with the civilization destroying effects of global warming.