More than one out of every 20 people who die at the age of 65 or over commit suicide, according to a consultant psychiatrist at Tallaght Hospital in Dublin.
In 1994, 6 per cent of deaths in that age group were from suicide, according to Mr Gregory Swanwick.
In a paper on depression in older people, written for the Mental Health Association of Ireland to mark tomorrow's World Mental Health Day, Mr Swanwick says that about 13 per cent of people over 65 are depressed and could benefit from some form of treatment. But only a small percentage of this group are being prescribed anti-depressant therapy.