I want

Groups at Risk for Suicide

15 June 2025

Older adults, men, teens, immigrants, LGBT people (especially transgender people), and family members of someone who has committed suicide are some of the groups that are more likely to commit suicide.

  • Teenagers: Teen years (starting around age 10) are a time of major physical, emotional, and social changes. This is when we see a rise in depression and suicidal thoughts, especially among girls, along with the start of mental health issues. The parts of the brain that deal with emotions are super active during this time, but the areas that help with planning and controlling those emotions are still developing. It's normal for teens to think about death, but if they show real intent and have a plan to end their lives, that’s a serious red flag. Suicide is the second leading cause of death for teens aged 15 to 24.

  • Older adults: The suicide rate for older adults (75+) is really high, often because of social isolation, multiple health issues, undiagnosed depression, and the loss of loved ones. Plus, they often have access to strong medications and might choose more violent methods, which means that many attempts sadly result in death.

  • Immigrants: Moving to a new country can be tough, bringing losses, cultural differences, and the challenge of adapting to a whole new life. These changes can lead to feelings of loneliness, alienation, despair, and depression, all of which can increase the risk of suicide. Immigrants from the Former Soviet Union and Ethiopia are at the highest risk, facing extra barriers to mental health care like language issues and stigma.

  • LGBTQ people: Not being accepted for who you are, dealing with stigma and discrimination, and facing violence because of sexual orientation or gender identity can all increase the risk of depression, anxiety, and suicide in the LGBTQ community, especially among bisexual and transgender individuals.

  • Families affected by suicide: When someone in the family takes their own life, those left behind often feel shock, guilt, and shame, and may even experience depression and suicidal thoughts themselves. Other risk factors can include genetics and the tendency to mimic a loved one’s suicidal behavior, along with unique challenges in grieving.

  • Men: About 80% of suicides are by men, which may be due to them using more lethal methods, hiding their depression more than women, and being generally more aggressive and impulsive.

Statistics show that suicide is more common among certain groups of people, such as men, the elderly, teens, immigrants, the LGBT community (especially the transgender community), and families where a member has already killed themselves. All of these groups are at risk because their suicide rates are higher than the general community. This is because people who are at a high risk are more likely to be affected by suicide risk factors than people who are not at a high risk or who don't have some of the resilience factors. Men are more likely to be violent than women, for instance, and older adults tend to be more alone than younger people. If you want to help a group of people who are at risk, you should know what makes them exposed to those risks and then look for ways to help them.

Note

Note

The fact that you are a member of an at-risk group does not, by itself, make you more likely to commit suicide. People who are in at-risk groups are more likely to be hurt by risk factors than other people.

  • Teens
  • Immigrants
  • Men
  • Older adults
  • LGBTQ
  • Relatives of people who committed suicide

Adolescence kicks off around age 10 and is a time when teens go through a ton of changes—physically, mentally, and socially. During this phase, the parts of the brain that deal with emotions are super active, but the areas that help with planning and controlling those emotions and behaviors are still catching up. This can lead to some serious emotional ups and downs, making it easier for teens to face emotional crises and even increasing the risk of mental health issues, depression, and suicide.

It's pretty normal for teens to have thoughts about death, even if they're just vague and not serious. But when those thoughts get specific and involve real plans for suicide, it’s a major red flag that needs immediate attention and care.

According to data from the Ministry of Health in Israel, suicide is the third leading cause of death for females and the second for males aged 15 to 24. Plus, we've seen an uptick in suicides among kids under 15 recently.

When it comes to attempted suicides, teens are at a higher risk than adults. In 2019, around 45% of all women who tried to take their own life were between 10 and 24, while 37% of men in that same age group were also in that statistic. The highest rates of attempted suicide occur among those aged 18 to 21.

If you hear anyone say something suicidal or have concerns about a teen, please reach out to a professional or ERAN for help.

For parents of teens, there are plenty of resources and tools available about suicide.

Immigration to another country involves numerous challenges, some of which are complex. Moving to a new country is in itself a loss and involves moving away from support, social status, the workplace or school, and everything that was familiar, known, and loved. In addition, there are cultural gaps between the country of origin and the country to which they moved, as well as economic gaps and status changes for the entire family. Some immigrants do not know or are not familiar with the language, customs, and lifestyle, and these impede their integration into the local society. The need to relearn everything, to adapt to a new country, and to adopt a different lifestyle of the country they immigrated to can be complex and difficult for immigrants. They can experience extreme loneliness, alienation, lack of belonging, identity confusion, despair, and depression. These emotions increase the risk of suicide alongside increased barriers to mental health care (e.g., language, stigma, accessibility).

Immigrants from the former Soviet Union and Ethiopia: it is important to know that not all immigration increases the risk equally. Data from the Informatics Division of the Ministry of Health (2020) reveals that immigrants from the former Soviet Union and Ethiopia face the highest risk among immigrants to Israel and point to a high suicide rate among immigrants from the former USSR since 1990 and immigrants from Ethiopia. Suicide rates among Ethiopians have been on a downward trend since 2005, and among those born in the former Soviet Union, a downward trend began in 2012.

Men comprise approximately 80% of all suicides in Israel and the Western world. The suicide rate among men is 4 times higher than for women, and this gap has been stable throughout the last decade. Among young men (ages 18–25), death by suicide is the second most common cause of death; approximately 20% of deaths at these ages are the result of suicide. Among older men, the ratio between suicide and attempted suicide is particularly high: one suicide for every three attempts.

Among the estimated causes of increased tendency towards suicide: divorce, loss, unemployment, retirement, debts, etc. All of these may cause symptoms of depression and distress that manifest as behavioral changes such as withdrawal, anger and aggression, sleep problems, increased consumption of alcohol, drugs, and smoking, distancing from society, feeling of alienation, diminished function, hopelessness, and so on. Although these situations require a tremendous deal of support and help, many men avoid asking for or receiving it. As a rule, men are not used to sharing and feel that they have no one, and as a result, their depression is more hidden and therefore undiagnosed; they experience intense loneliness, find it difficult to reach out or call for help, and have no social support systems.

Women versus men: according to the data of the World Health Organization and the Ministry of Health in Israel, women report suicidal thoughts more often than men and make a greater number of attempts at suicide, but these attempts tend to be less lethal and therefore do not result in high rates of death by suicide. This paradox, which reflects a huge gap between the suicide rates between the sexes, can be explained by the fact that men use more lethal suicide methods such as firearms and hanging as well as by the intensity of the impulsive and aggressive tendency of men in relation to women in crisis situations.

Suicide rates among the elderly (ages 75+) in the Western world are the highest in comparison with other age groups. In Israel, similar to the rest of the world, the highest suicide rate among the different age groups is among women and men aged 75 and over. The reasons for suicide among adults are many, including:

  • Highest incidence of disease and disabilities.
  • Social isolation.
  • Depression that, in many cases, is undiagnosed.
  • Multiple losses and separations as a result of death of a partner, retirement, and move into a nursing home.
  • Increased use of addictive substances such as alcohol, painkillers, and dangerous medications that are easily accessible due to the state of their health.

More men than women in this group tend to kill themselves violently, such as by using weapons, hanging themselves, or suffocating themselves. Access to dangerous medications, physical strength, and violent suicide methods among the elderly means that most suicide attempts result in death.

The lack of self and social acceptance, stress attributed to stigmas and discrimination, and violence from the environment due to sexual orientation or gender identity - all increase the risk of depression, anxiety and suicide in the LGBTQ community, especially among the bisexuals and transgender populations.

Belonging to a minority group due to gender or sexual orientation can increase stress on the individual, which may be attributed to several causes, including:

  • Lack of self-acceptance regarding sexual orientation.
  • Rejection by the family and environment or rejection due to homophobia.
  • Social pressure that includes discrimination, stigma, prejudice.
  • Violence by the environment including harassment, bullying, shaming, and so on.

When these pressures appear and intensify, particularly when they involve several factors, the risk of depression, anxiety and suicide increases. Several studies conducted in Israel suggested that the rate of suicidal ideation and suicidal behavior among the LGBTQ population, especially in the bisexual and transgender community, is particularly high in comparison with the heterosexual population. Global studies found that among LGBT youth, the chance of a suicide attempt is 3.71 times higher among homosexuals, 4.87 times among bisexuals, and 5.87 times among transgender youth, in comparison with heterosexual youth.

When someone commits suicide, it is estimated that about 25 people, on average, family members and relatives, are directly and deeply affected by it. They can experience shock, guilt, shame, and loneliness, as well as suffer from social stigma assigned to suicide. Difficult questions such as “Why did he kill himself?” “Could I have prevented his suicide?” Mayarise again and again. Different explanations were found for different factors, which could explain the increased risk in this group. Studies conducted among family members whose relatives committed suicide revealed that the level of helplessness, depression, complex grief, suicidal ideation, and behavior is higher in comparison with people who lost a loved one in non-suicidal circumstances.

In addition, genetics and the tendency to imitate suicides may also be risk among this population. Among families in which the relationships with the person who committed suicide included significant difficulties and considerable complexity, the risk of further suicides is even greater. More members of the family of the person who committed suicide share part of his genetics; therefore, there is a chance that they also share genetic factors that increase the risk of suicide. Regarding the tendency to imitate, people who are extremely close tend to imitate suicidal behavior.In addition, the loss itself, and particularly when discussing a traumatic loss, is associated with depression, guilt, impaired sense of belonging, etc. that comprise in and of themselves risk factors for suicide. In other words, the presumed mechanism is a loss that results in a risk factor for suicide that leads to suicide.

Help and support

The website for the National Suicide Prevention Program has a lot of information about crises and how to help people who are suicidal.

More information on the government services website

Written with the help of the National Suicide Prevention Program.

Written with the assistance of: Dr. Shira Barzilai, clinical psychologist, senior lecturer in the Community Mental Health Faculty at the University of Haifa, and Nadav Horovitz, clinical psychologist.

More on the subject