WASHINGTON - Sen. Harry Reid, whose gold miner father committed suicide at age 58, is sponsoring legislation aimed at combating suicide among seniors. Suicide rates are higher in Nevada than any other state, particularly among older people.
Reid, D-Nev., held a press conference Wednesday to discuss the Stop Senior Suicide Act which would create new grants for elderly suicide prevention work and lower the rate under Medicare for outpatient mental health services, among other measures.
"This Stop Senior Suicide Act is a multi-pronged approach to see if we can save a few lives," said Reid, who for years didn't discuss his father's 1972 death.
Reid publicly disclosed it at a Senate hearing in 1997 after being moved by the testimony of other witnesses. Reid's father, also named Harry, shot himself to death; Reid was 32.
"For many years it was just one of those unpleasant memories that I didn't allow to surface and I've found that's very typical," said Reid.
"One thing I've learned about suicide is you're not lonely" because others also have friends or relatives who have committed suicide, he said.
Nevada's overall suicide rate was 19.9 per 100,000 in 2005 compared to 11 per 100,000 nationwide, according to officials with the Suicide Prevention Action Network USA who joined Reid Wednesday.
Among seniors over 60, Nevada's rate was 35 per 100,000, compared with about 14.5 per 100,000 nationally.
According to Jerry Reed, an official with the suicide prevention group who used to work for Reid and just completed a study on suicide among the elderly, rates are higher overall in the mountain West than on the East Coast for reasons that may include isolation, limited integration and access to firearms.
The bill is being sponsored in the House by Rep. Darlene Hooley, D-Ore.