Why Older Men Are at Higher Risk for Suicide
As men age, their need for autonomy, dignity, belonging, and meaning may suffer.
Updated May 7, 2026 | Reviewed by Hara Estroff Marano
Robert, 78, did not describe himself as depressed. He said he was “just old.” After retirement , his wife’s death, and a hip fracture that left him unable to drive, his world became smaller. He stopped meeting former colleagues, declined invitations from his daughter, and insisted he did not want to “be a burden.” What looked like ordinary withdrawal from the outside was psychologically more complex: Several foundations of livability were weakening at once.
Robert is a fictional composite, but his situation reflects a broader epidemiological pattern. In the United States, men die by suicide far more often than women. Data from the Centers for Disease Control show that in 2023, the suicide rate among males was approximately four times higher than among females. And men aged 75 and older had the highest suicide rate of any age group. The pattern is not unique to the U,S.; male predominance in suicide deaths, especially in later life, has been observed across many high-income countries.
A purely diagnostic explanation is necessary but insufficient. Depression , chronic pain , alcohol use, sleep disturbance, neurocognitive changes, bereavement , and psychiatric comorbidity all matter. But late-life suicide among men cannot be understood only as untreated depression. It also needs to be understood as a crisis in psychological need regulation.
A Needs-Based Model for Late-Life Suicide Risk
The theory of universal psychological needs (TUPG) proposes that psychological stability depends on six basic needs: safety and predictability, connection and belonging, autonomy and influence, competence and effectiveness, dignity and recognition, and meaning and coherence. In later life, suicide risk may increase when several of these needs are threatened simultaneously rather than sequentially or in isolation.
This perspective helps clarify what may happen in men like Robert. Retirement may weaken the sense of competence and usefulness. Bereavement may remove the central relationship through which emotions were regulated. Physical illness may reduce autonomy and predictability. Social withdrawal may erode belonging. Dependency may threaten dignity. The person may not say, “I am suicidal .” He may say, “I am useless,” “I am a burden,” or “There is nothing left.”
This is where a needs-based approach connects with established suicide theories. The interpersonal theory of suicide emphasizes thwarted belongingness and perceived burdensomeness as central to suicidal desire. The integrated motivational-volitional model emphasizes defeat, entrapment, and the transition from suicidal thoughts to suicidal behavior. TUPG does not replace these models; it organizes their mechanisms within a broader architecture of human functioning. Thwarted belongingness reflects a collapse of connection. Perceived burdensomeness injures dignity and meaning. Defeat threatens competence. Entrapment expresses the loss of autonomy and influence.
Masculine socialization can intensify this process. Many men are taught to value independence, emotional control , productivity , and self-reliance. The norms can support responsibility and endurance. But under conditions of frailty, bereavement, dependency, or chronic illness , they can become psychologically costly. Help may feel like loss of autonomy. Disclosure may feel like loss of dignity. Care may feel like evidence of incompetence. Recent meta-analytic evidence links traditional masculinity and gender -role conflict with more negative attitudes toward psychological help-seeking and greater self- stigma .
This may explain why distress in older men is often expressed indirectly. It may appear as irritability, withdrawal, refusal of care, somatic complaints, alcohol use, neglect of treatment, or rigid insistence that others would be “better off” without them. These signs should not be reduced to stubbornness or personality . They may indicate that belonging, agency, competence, dignity, or meaning has become unstable.
A needs-based approach does not replace clinical assessment; it deepens it. It asks not only whether an older man is depressed but which foundations of livability have become threatened.
Prevention as Restoration of Livability
First, primary care is central. Older men may see physicians more readily than psychotherapists. Routine assessment should therefore include depression, pain, sleep, alcohol use, bereavement, loneliness , functional decline, perceived burdensomeness, and access to highly lethal means. The conversation should be collaborative rather than paternalistic.
Second, prevention should protect autonomy. Instead of saying, “You need help,” clinicians and relatives can ask, “What would make daily life feel more manageable again?” Shared decision-making , concrete problem-solving, and small domains of choice can reduce the experience of being controlled.
Third, belonging should be rebuilt before crisis. Peer groups, bereavement groups, volunteering, intergenerational programs, and social prescribing—in which clinicians connect patients with community activities or supportive groups—can function as need-based interventions. The evidence base for social prescribing is promising but heterogeneous; it should be used thoughtfully, not as a substitute for clinical care.
Fourth, prevention should restore competence. Rehabilitation, adapted tasks, mentoring roles, and opportunities to contribute can counter the belief “I am no longer useful.” Even small experiences of effectiveness matter when larger capacities decline.
Fifth, dignity should be treated as a clinical variable. Older men should not be addressed as problems to be managed but as persons with histories, skills, losses, pride, and remaining agency. Respectful language, privacy, choice, and recognition of contribution can reduce shame .
Finally, meaning must be actively addressed. Meaning in later life may emerge through legacy, reconciliation, caregiving , memory , spirituality , craft, humor , or being needed in one specific relationship.
Older male suicide is not simply a problem of men not talking. It is often a problem of men losing the psychological conditions that make disclosure, help-seeking, and future imagination possible. Prevention begins when support restores agency without humiliation , connection without pressure, competence without denial , and dignity without silence.
If you or someone you know is struggling with suicidal thoughts, contact the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by calling or texting 988.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2025). Suicide data and statistics.
Chu, C., Buchman-Schmitt, J. M., Stanley, I. H., Hom, M. A., Tucker, R. P., Hagan, C. R., ... & Joiner Jr, T. E. (2017). The interpersonal theory of suicide: A systematic review and meta-analysis of a decade of cross-national research. Psychological bulletin , 143 (12), 1313.
Percival, A., Newton, C., Mulligan, K., Petrella, R. J., & Ashe, M. C. (2022). Systematic review of social prescribing and older adults: where to from here?. Family medicine and community health , 10 (Suppl 1), e001829.
Tagay, S. (2025). Theory of Universal Psychological Basic Needs (TUPG). DOI: 10.17605/OSF.IO/WXCJG.
Üzümçeker, E. (2025). Traditional Masculinity and Men's Psychological Help‐Seeking: A Meta‐Analysis. International Journal of Psychology , 60 (2), e70031.
Share this post Facebook Bluesky Linkedin Email
There was a problem adding your email address. Please try again.
By submitting your information you agree to the Psychology Today Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy
Sefik Tagay, Ph.D., is a professor of psychology at TH Köln, University of Applied Sciences in Germany.
Get the help you need from a therapist near you–a FREE service from Psychology Today.
This article is part of the Bringwise Psychology Journal — daily insights on human behavior, mental health, and personal growth.