Elderly choosing suicide over poor quality of life

Ernest Izett, pictured in 1968, was a resident of Oakland Ultimate Care when he killed himself in April last year, according to the coroner's findings. Stuff.co.nz/IZETT FAMILY

Struggling to write between the lines Ernest Izett scrawled his goodbyes on a piece of paper and left it on his bedside table.

Once the 91-year-old couldn't read, watch telly or listen to music he didn't want to live anymore.

"We only have one chance of life and I shall not be blind and a burden on others," he wrote.

He's one of nine people living in aged care facilities who killed themselves between 2016 and 2017, according to material released under the Official Information Act.

And it could be a recent spike. Between 2007 and 2012 suicides committed by older people in residential care were uncommon, University of Auckland old age psychiatry researcher, Gary Cheung, says.

Four of the nine suspected suicides over the last two years are provisional and pending the coroner's final finding. The other five closed cases were four men and one woman.

Those residents were from Thames, Tauranga, Whitianga, Whakatane and Rotorua.

However the nine cases don't include suicides in retirement villages and shouldn't be taken as "representing every such instance", according to the Ministry of Justice.

Cheung, one of the only researchers of elderly suicide in New Zealand, heard of a couple of suspected suicide cases in Auckland rest homes last year, too.

Frontline aged care staff need to know how to screen older people for depression. When someone is suicidal, workers need to know what to do.

But there's a lack of literature and awareness around elderly suicide, he said. Older men have one of the highest rates of suicide in New Zealand, he says.

"There [is] no protocol, we're not prepared."

While an increase could be a natural fluctuation, it could also be a reflection of more people in aged care facilities, Cheung believes.

And with home support available, these days older people tend to move to rest homes later in life, with worse health.

"So often people are more unwell now by the time they come to residential care. And physical [illness] is a risk factor

"Some of the cases, it could be euthanasia-like suicide.

"Certainly we need to monitor that quite closely."

Death wishes aren't rare in older people. In a study of over 65-year-olds being assessed for home support and long term aged residential care, 9.5 per cent presented death wishes such as "I would rather be dead".

In a written statement New Zealand Aged Care Association chief executive Simon Wallace says most people are less socially isolated in rest home care. He says without more information it was difficult to draw any conclusions about the cases in question.

Ernest was a resident of a rest home in Tauranga when he killed himself in April last year, according to the coroner's findings.

His daughter Janne Izett​ had known her dad worried about dying slowly. After watching his wife - and children's mother - die slowly from motor neuron disease in 1987, he wouldn't have wished the same on anyone.

As a former farmer, his approach to life was pragmatic, she says.

"He said if an animal hurt itself ... it was cruel for the animal to be left suffering.

"He wanted his death not to be termed as suicide, but sort of self-euthanasia."

While Janne had desperately tried to prevent Ernest from killing himself, she understood that he had had enough and wished he hadn't gone through it alone.

"He knew not to say anything to me or anyone else.

"I just wish that they could have just given him an injection and he wouldn't have had to do what he did."

When Ernest first expressed a desire to die, he was put into hospital under 24/7 watch. After that, precautions were put in place to stop him. Going to live in a rest home was one of them.

He had a happy couple of years there but after a bad fall, his health deteriorated, he was lonely and he'd had enough.

A caregiver found his body.

In his final note, Ernest said he had never expected to live until 80, let alone 91. In his suicide note Ernest said he had been "totally cared for" by both Janne and the rest home.

"I have enjoyed my life," he wrote.

"This is a huge effort to write this, my last note, so goodbye all, and thanks once again."

WHERE TO GET HELP

Lifeline (open 24/7) - 0800 543 354

Depression Helpline (open 24/7) - 0800 111 757

Gambling Helpline - 0800 654 655

Healthline (open 24/7) - 0800 611 116

Samaritans (open 24/7) - 0800 726 666

Suicide Crisis Helpline (open 24/7) - 0508 828 865 (0508 TAUTOKO). This is a service for people who may be thinking about suicide, or those who are concerned about family or friends.

Youthline (open 24/7) - 0800 376 633. You can also text 234 for free between 8am and midnight, or email talk@youthline.co.nz

0800 WHATSUP children's helpline - phone 0800 9428 787 between 1pm and 10pm on weekdays and from 3pm to 10pm on weekends. Online chat is available from 7pm to 10pm every day at www.whatsup.co.nz.

Kidsline (open 24/7) - 0800 543 754. This service is for children aged 5 to 18. Those who ring between 4pm and 9pm on weekdays will speak to a Kidsline buddy. These are specially trained teenage telephone counsellors.

-Stuff/Ruby Nyika

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5 comments

Rest In Peace

Posted on 02-07-2018 09:02 | By Brian Porter

I can recall reading Ernest letters to editor often with a different take on life.


TCC incompetence

Posted on 02-07-2018 10:26 | By Captain Sensible

With TCC expecting rate payers to keep finding all this extra cash for their stupid ideas, being rated out of their own home is an option that gets more likely every year. I have a friend who has already discussed the idea with me.


Personally......

Posted on 02-07-2018 12:19 | By Bruja

I think that as a species we are sooooo obsessed with keeping people breathing in and out, thinking that so long as people are breathing then that's the best thing. It's actually disgraceful that 'we' think 'we' know what's best for someone else. How utterly ludicrous, and arrogant, frankly. If we REALLY cared for our fellow humans we would care for them until such time as THEY decided they wanted to end this particular lifetime. Even the current thinking around euthanasia, that a medical person whether it be a GP or a psychiatrist, or both, should be able to decide if a person is 'capable' of deciding that they wish to die is simply bizarre. To me, if a person says they want to die, that is THEIR decision and only theirs. We need to change our thinking around suicide as well. Personal choice. Personal freedom.


It isn't about depression.

Posted on 02-07-2018 12:41 | By morepork

It is perfectly logical and sensible for a person of advanced age, who has no real quality of life, to decide they are ready to switch off. My own Mother (aged 90) expressed sentiments exactly like those expressed in the report. She had all the same symptoms that Ernest had and she told me: "Son, I think I've had enough. I'm tired and it's no fun anymore." I thought she was having a bad day but later, when I thought about it, I realized she was right. She didn't commit suicide but she died peacefully a few months after we had the conversation. There is no case (other than a Religious one) for prolonging life at all cost, even when it doesn't make sense. Each of us should have the right to decide when we are ready to go and it should not be shameful or undignified. Euthanasia makes sense.


I wonder

Posted on 03-07-2018 20:12 | By lpm67

I wonder if the suicide rate is higher in BOP rest homes than the rest of the country. As a nurse I have worked across NZ in a lot of different age care facilities, but I found alot (not all) of the resthomes I worked at here to be quite shocking. Under staffed and poorly managed.


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