Symbolic ages, like 40, 65, or 70, are often stocktaking occasions. Phillips and Smith in 1991 showed that suicides peak at such ages for married males and suggested that suicide notes may be an avenue to analyzing such stocktaking in people's lives. 40 notes from symbolic and nonsymbolic ages were compared based on a multidimensional clinical perspective. No differences were noted. Although caution is in order in accepting the null hypothesis, it is speculated that macrosocial phenomena may not be easily translatable into psychological ones.
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References
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LeenaarsA. (1988) Suicide notes.New York: Human Sciences Press.
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LeenaarsA. (1989) Suicide across the adult life-span: an archival study. Crisis, 10, 132–151.
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PhillipsD., & SmithD. (1991) Suicide at symbolic ages: death on stocktaking occasions. In LeenaarsA. (Ed.), Life span perspectives of suicide.New York: Plenum. Pp. 81–92.
