CLIPBOARD : Suicide: It’s Mostly a Man’s World

During 1990, nearly 300 county residents took their own lives--and most of them were men. About seven in 10 suicides, 72%, were committed by males with most of those occurring among men who were relatively young. Just over half, 52%, of the suicides by males were by those between the ages of 20 and 49.

This pattern is similar to 1989, when 73% of all suicides were males and 59% of the male total was among those 20-49 years old.

Overall, suicide among women does not begin to approach male totals until older age. Still, after the age of 70 taking one’s own life is, two out of three times, likely to be the act of a man.

Last year, the youngest county residents to commit suicide were 15--one of each sex.

Here’s how men and women compared last year by age group:

Age Males Females Total Less than 20 years 11 6 17 20-29 34 10 44 30-39 37 16 53 40-49 38 17 55 50-59 21 2 23 60-69 28 9 37 70-79 26 15 41 80-89 10 7 17 90 and older 3 0 3 TOTAL 208 82 290

* Qualifier, if needed

Source: Orange County Coroner’s Office