Balancing Life's Accounts: Suicides of the Elderly in Belgrade

The lifeless body of an elderly man, Milovan Đ. (79), who committed a peculiar type of suicide, was found in Belgrade. He was found with his hands tied with bare wire, which he then plugged into an electrical outlet, thus killing himself. None of his relatives could state the real motives for the suicide, reports Patria.      

At the same time, in another part of the Serbian capital, Stoja B. (77) attempted to kill herself with hydrochloric acid, and doctors are fighting for her life.

Clinical psychologist Zoran Tomlin explained the frequent suicides of older people:

- Elderly people often commit so-called balance suicides, characterized by summing up accounts and reviewing their lives, and deciding on suicide as the only way out of a situation. This decision is made completely consciously. They do this when there is no hope for recovery from illness and a better life, when they suffer severe pain, or have no money for treatment.