Burden of illness and suicide in elderly people : Physical disease and depression are prevalent in elderly Finnish suicide victims

Editor—After reading the paper by Waern et al on the burden of illness and suicide in elderly people1-1 I was reminded of a remark by Sigmund Freud (1856-1939), who suffered greatly from cancer of the palate. In 1926, speaking to “the American Viereck” (probably the journalist George Sylvester Viereck), he said, “It may be that the gods are merciful when they make our lives more unpleasant as we grow old. In the end, death seems less intolerable than the many burdens we have to bear.”1-2