THE Samaritans of Singapore, the suicide prevention group, has noted as 'disturbing' that 87 old people - 18 more than in 2006 - took their own lives last year. The increase may shock somewhat less, considering that the population has begun increasingly to grey.

Nevertheless, the incidence of elderly suicide has more than kept pace with the demographic shift. It is twice that of the general population, having crept above 20 per 100,000 people over 65 years old from a low of 17.3 in 2002. It is currently as high as 24 per 100,000.

The problem is serious, but those willing to help need not feel helpless. The rate was much higher, above 40 per 100,000 in the mid-1990s. According to a National University of Singapore study, as many as 52 out of 100,000 elderly Chinese Singaporeans killed themselves each year then.

Yet, efforts by mental health professionals and volunteers in both government and non-governmental organisations brought a gradual decline. Studies have shown that early detection and treatment of depression form one of the most effective steps in preventing elderly suicide. Busy though they may be, general practitioners have to do a better job of looking out for signs of depression among older patients.

Because of the stigma attached to mental illness in Asian society, patients sometimes present psychological distress as physical pain. If major or chronic depression is the diagnosis, treatment may need to include anti-depressants to correct brain chemical imbalance, rather than benzodiazepines with sedative, anti- anxiety or muscle relaxant effects.

However, depression - as well as suicide it sometimes results in - is not solely a medical problem. Though it does not cause depression, loneliness brings despair and may push the elderly over the edge. The extended family household, of which the old are traditionally considered integral if not respected members, may have broken down, perhaps irretrievably.

But has the nuclear family, too, come under such economic and social pressures that it cannot or is no longer willing to be inclusive in regard to grandparents? Has the vaunted Asian value of family support and solidarity become more apparent than real? Has the focus turned too much to the young at the expense of the old, to work and getting ahead financially?

The elderly deserve better. Neither the state nor community organisations can bring them familial love. Young people of the 'me' generation need to care if not to love, and find new and practical ways to be caring, for they could face the same problems of isolation and abandonment when they, too, grow old.

This story was first published in The Straits Times on August 11, 2008.