Dementia carers more suicide prone, study says

Melbourne: An Australian research has found that people who care for dementia sufferers are more likely to contemplate suicide than the general population.

A survey of 120 carers in Australia and the US found that one-in-four have contemplated suicide more than once in the last year, quoting Siobhan O`Dwyer of Griffith University.

"Our results are more than eight times what the general population say, and so if people are thinking about it we need to be really concerned," she said.

Carers Queensland spokeswoman Debra Cottrell said it highlights the need for more support for those who help sufferers.

"They overlook their own health and wellbeing to make sure the person they`re caring for gets the very best," she said.

PTI