New research from UCLA Health and UC San Diego Health found a significant spike in suicidal thoughts, planning and attempts among older U.S. adults in the years following the COVID-19 pandemic.
The study, published in the Journal of Affective Disorders, used data from nearly 42,500 adults aged 50 or older surveyed during the National Survey on Drug Use and Health from 2021 to 2024. The analysis found:
- Suicidal ideation increased 42.6%, suicide planning by 256.2% and suicide attempts by 263.3%
- Increases in suicidal ideation and planning were concentrated among individuals without traditional risk factors such as major depression or alcohol use, raising questions about whether current screening frameworks are missing a growing at-risk population
- Suicide planning increased significantly more steeply among those with past-year cannabis use compared to those without (449.9% vs. 188.3% increase)
“These findings suggest that many older adults who are struggling are not the ones our current screening approaches are designed to catch,” said the study’s lead author Dr. Kevin Yang, a psychiatrist and research fellow at the UCLA National Clinician Scholars Program. “If a growing share of suicidal thoughts and plans is showing up in people without a depression diagnosis or recent substance use, we need to rethink how we identify risk and reach older adults before a crisis occurs.”
Suicide prevention for older adults relies heavily on screening for depression and other mental health conditions. The authors state that the findings point to a need for broader risk assessment that could include factors such as social isolation, loneliness, bereavement, financial strain and frailty, in addition to other established risk factors such as depression. Yang said continued monitoring of emerging at-risk groups is needed. Further research is also warranted on what leads older adults from suicidal thoughts to planning and on how cannabis use affects mental health over time.
The authors note that the study was exploratory and its findings should be interpreted cautiously. The survey captures a snapshot in time, so it cannot show why the increases occurred or establish cause and effect. Responses were self-reported; the survey excludes people living in institutions such as hospitals. Additionally, the total number of reported suicide attempts was relatively small (n=113). The authors also note that the results likely underestimate the full burden of suicidal behavior, because the survey cannot capture people who died by suicide.
The study was supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the Sam and Rose Stein Institute for Research on Aging at UC San Diego. The study was conducted while Yang was a resident psychiatrist at UC San Diego Health.
If you are in crisis, emotional distress or concerned about someone, call, text, or chat 988 to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline for free, confidential support from a trained counselor, available 24/7.
