Breast implants linked to suicide

www.newscientist.com...


Breast implants linked to suicide

23:01 06 March 03

NewScientist.com news service

Women with cosmetic breast implants are significantly more likely to commit suicide than those without them, according to a new study.

The researchers, motivated by the debate over the health risks of breast implants, analysed the medical records of 3500 Swedish women who had had breast implants. They considered only cosmetic operations, excluding women who received implants after breast cancer surgery.

The 3500 women ranged in age from teenagers to pensioners and had the implant operation between 1965 and 1993. In an average group of the same size and age, 59 deaths would be expected, but the researchers found that 85 women had died.

Fifteen had taken their own lives, three times the number expected, and a higher number of deaths from smoking-related diseases like lung cancer were also seen.

"Women who ask for breast implants may have low self-esteem," suggests Veronica Koot at the University Medical Centre, Utrecht, Netherlands, who led the study. "Similarly, women who smoke may also have low self-esteem."

Body conscious:

Michael Beary, a consultant psychiatrist at the Priory Hospital, London agrees that women with low-self esteem are more body conscious and more likely to have breast implants.

"Quite a lot of women who become depressed will seek plastic surgery as a treatment for depression," he says. "However, quite often operations go wrong, leading to unsightly scarring, unequal breasts or numb areas, and this can make the depression worse. I have certainly seen suicide attempts in women after surgery who were depressed beforehand." Similarly, Beary says teenage girls with low-self esteem about their bodies can take up smoking believing it will help them lose weight, making it more likely that women who have breast implants are also smokers.

That just sounds ridiculous.

I'm not sure what you are referring to, but depression and someone taking their own life because of it are not ridiculous.

I don't think they mean to suggest that getting breast implants CAUSES someone to kill themselves.. I think they mean to suggest that some women who get depressed think that they will miraculously get better if they improve their image. And when their attempt fails, they lose hope that things will get better.

Please don't call this ridiculous, this is real. This is not a conspiracy, it is an illness. These are people's lives.

I am not saying anyone taking their own life is ridiculous, I've been very close to two people who have chosen to do this. I think it's ridiculous that they link it to breast implants. Just like they link every last thing on the market to cancer. I'm not sure why this post is on this site.

hey u know what women that get implants have some issues with themselves and they are already probably vulnerable because theyr going into the operation to begin with. i know lots of not big breated ladys that dont feel the need to increase the size of their chest. women that get implants most of them probably are already insecure and that is why they commit suicide, not the implant itself.

women that get implants got insecurity issues anyway, and theyre always got ddrama goin on in their lives anyway and women that get those are more likely to commit suicide, not just cuz they got silicon implanted in their tits you morons

FSU and smoker have a point. If ya get implants, you've gotta have some low self esteem(could some females on this board enlighten us... we're a bit in the dark). It's probably true to link it to the sucidals, and yet it seems strange that more took their lives than normal.

Signing out,
HLW

*token woman comment*

The figures are pretty shocking but I think it is true that women who have implants are generally more self concious about their figures and have lower self esteem.

The obsession with appearance is increasing, as shown by the rising rate of eating disorders for example. However I'm not sure that more women start smoking to control their weight - but I know more women are afraid to stop smoking because of the potential weight gain.

And it's not just the women - the same eating disorder surveys also showed an increase in male cases. I'm wondering what a similar survey on men who had had particularly personal cosmetic surgery would show?

arc,

Your comment about male cosmetic surgery is valid but I think it will be difficult to find information on linked disorders or suicide.

Regardless of gender, all cosmetic surgery is predicated on the individual not liking what they see in the mirror. It's the old social acceptance stigma. Although most people strive to be liked and accepted by others, some take the fear of being rejected a little too far.

As one gets a little older, personality becomes much more of an issue than looks to most people. Of course the exception would be movie stars needing to look twenty years younger to suppliment their vanity.

deleted

I agree totally on why most people have cosmetic surgery, but some people have problems dealing with their low self esteem and resort to self harming. I would suspect that the amount of suicides in the lower age range would also be the highest.

Yes arc,

I don't have statistics handy, but the greater majority of suicides are attributed to teenagers.

A close relationship has been documented between low self-esteem and such problems as violence, alcoholism, drug abuse, eating disorders, school dropouts, teenage pregnancy, suicide, and low academic achievement.

www.self-esteem-nase.org...


Having cosmetic surgery done to increase breast size or penis size will not guarantee a better sex life. A face tuck won't mean that people will be breaking down the door to be your friend.

Social acceptance can be debilitating to some as they spend their life trying to be someone they aren't.

deleted

anyone any guesses as to why problems like these are getting more common?

Many people blame the media and I know it plays a part in giving many young people impossible images to live up to, but I think there's just so much happening now that causes anxiety and stress in people's lives. Information and choice overload - guess occasionally ignorance is bliss *insert wry grin here*

I've been through a lot of what you mentioned deleted - thankfully managed to pull myself out of it without resorting to cosmetic surgery. Was very tempted a few years back but knew I wouldn't respect myself for going through with it