Breast Implants Triple Suicide Risk
It’s such a popular surgery.
But new research shows that women who receive breast implants are 3 times more likely to commit suicide than the general population.
Deaths related to alcohol or drug dependence or to mental disorders were also 3 times higher among women with breast implants.
This new study in the August issue of the Annals of Plastic Surgery confirms earlier research that linked breast augmentation and suicide.
The study analyzed over 3500 Swedish women who got breast implants between 1965 and 1993. Breast cancer patients with reconstructive surgery were not included.
The researchers followed the women for up to 29 years after surgery. The average follow-up period was about 19 years.
A 10-Year Grace Period
They found that there was no increased risk of suicide in the first 10 years after surgery. But the risk was 4.5 times higher 10 to 19 years after surgery and 6 times higher after 20 years.
Women with breast implants also had a higher risk for lung cancer and chronic respiratory disease. But they didn’t have a greater risk of dying from these diseases.
Although it hasn’t been ruled out that silicone toxicity is responsible for the increased suicide risk, the experts believe it is more likely that the women had psychological problems before getting implants.
The women may have had self-esteem or body image issues before surgery. Even if they initially experienced psychological improvement after the surgery, it didn’t last.
These studies linking breast implants and suicide point to a greater need for psychological evaluation of plastic surgery patients.
The Parallel To Weight Loss
It’s hard not to draw a parallel between the psychological effects of cosmetic surgery and weight loss.
How many of us believe that if we lose our excess weight our problems in life will be solved?
Although the suicide link may not be there with weight loss, the disappointment can be.
If you have psychological or relationship problems in your life, neither weight loss nor cosmetic surgery will solve them.
It’s just easier to believe it will.
Technorati Tags: breast implants, suicide, weight loss, lose weight, cosmetic surgery, plastic surgery
August 17th, 2007 at 12:11 am
Looking better doesn’t always make you feel better.
August 17th, 2007 at 12:19 am
I’m probably gonna get my head bit off for this comment. But isn’t anyone who has breast implant surgery (unless it’s for breast cancer reconstruction or something like that) going into it because of self-esteem or body image issues? If they screen out patients for that, they’ll screen pretty much everyone out, won’t they? If you’ve don’t have a body image issue, why would you get breast implants in the first place?
August 17th, 2007 at 1:10 am
I’m going to be the first one to bite your head off, cyberalex. Lots of women have breast implant surgery because it’s so common and it makes women look better. It’s no different than when men do bodybuilding. In LA where I live, everyone has it done. Are there people who have mental problems? Sure. But that doesn’t mean everyone who has breast implants is a mental case.
August 17th, 2007 at 2:49 pm
Almost everyone has body image issues to some degree and most of us have vanity issues, too. That’s why we wear makeup and buy stylish clothes and get our hair done and all the other things we do to look good. People who get breast implants just take it to another level because they’re willing to undergo surgery. Does that make them mental cases? I suppose sometimes it does, especially if they keep getting surgery for every little imperfection, but doctors could look at their medical history to see if they’re getting too many surgeries and refer them for psychological help.
August 17th, 2007 at 4:05 pm
If the suicide rate is linked to the breast implants, why does it take so many years for these women to commit suicide? 20 years later whether your breasts are big is the least of your problems.
August 17th, 2007 at 4:56 pm
I think we all get so used to seeing big breasts on TV that we’re willing to mutilate our bodies to get them. Plastic surgery is getting out of hand when young girls start getting breast implants for their teenage birthdays and that’s what we’re seeing in this country. No wonder so many women have lost perspective on what makes them happy.
August 17th, 2007 at 9:01 pm
Breast implants? That’s not a problem at my weight. Try breast reduction surgery. That’s what I need, but I’m scared to go under the knife.
August 17th, 2007 at 11:17 pm
cyberalex, I’m siding with you on this one. Unless it’s a question of reconstructive surgery for breast cancer or a disfigurement that really impacts your life, I can’t think of any reason that someone would go into surgery just to wear a bigger bra size except body image issues and low self-esteem. Why does our culture make people feel they have to have surgery to look good? I think anyone who gets breast implants should have a psychological evaluation just to make sure they can handle the outcome if they’re looking for a life change they won’t get.
August 18th, 2007 at 10:29 pm
Anyone who has surgery to make their breasts bigger or anything else cosmetic that isn’t reconstructive or for a real medical reason is probably someone who obsesses over their looks so much that when they start to lose their looks, they can’t live with it. That may be why it takes so many years for the suicide rate to go up. Maybe it isn’t about breast surgery, maybe it’s just that they’re getting old and losing their looks. If that’s how they think about their worth, then it’s no surprise that they would react badly as they age.
August 19th, 2007 at 3:20 pm
I like women better without breast implants. Implants aren’t sexy.
August 19th, 2007 at 6:35 pm
One of my neighbors had breast implant surgery and she actually started going around the neighborhood asking all the women if they wanted to take a peek. Ewwww!
August 19th, 2007 at 9:03 pm
I want to make a comment about losing weight instead of breast implants. I’ve known some women who think their relationship problems will be solved, their husbands will love them more, if they lose weight, but it never seems to work out that way. The problems are still there no matter how you look.