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Suicide Prevention in Older Age: A Positive Psychology Viewpoint

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Fostering Development in Midlife and Older Age

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Abstract

Suicide is unfortunately highly prevalent among older individuals. Addressing the issue from a positive psychology perspective can help understand what strengths one can foster to prevent older people from committing suicide. In the present chapter, I will first examine what suicide means to older people as well as summarize theoretical models that attempt to explain why they may choose to commit such an act. Second, I will look at how one can recognize the risk for self-harm among older individuals. Third, I will discuss the risk and protective factors from a developmental perspective, namely how developmental aspects in older age (e.g., social skills, cognitive abilities, personality traits, emotional regulation, physical attributes) can either facilitate or shield one from suicide in old age. Finally, I will explore how one can use positive psychology principles to design prevention programs for different target groups of older individuals. Also, I will analyse how developmental aspects concerning older age can play a role for suicide prevention.

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  1. Department of Qualitative Social and Educational Research, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany

    Irina Catrinel Crăciun

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  1. Irina Catrinel Crăciun
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Crăciun, I.C. (2023). Suicide Prevention in Older Age: A Positive Psychology Viewpoint. In: Fostering Development in Midlife and Older Age. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-24449-0_19

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