The AP (2/8, Marchione) reports, “One in 12 stroke survivors thought about suicide or that they would be better off dead,” according to research presented yesterday at the American Stroke Association conference in Honolulu. “That’s more than those with other health problems such as heart attacks or cancer, and it suggests that depression after stroke is more serious than many had realized.” The AP explains, “Depression may develop partly because strokes damage the very thing that controls mood – the brain, said a neurologist with no role in the study, Dr. Brian Silver of Brown University and Rhode Island Hospital.”
HealthDay (2/8, Preidt) reports, “The investigators analyzed data from the 2005 to 2010 US National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys and found that nearly eight percent of stroke survivors reported suicidal thoughts, compared with about six percent of heart attack survivors, five percent of diabetes patients and four percent of cancer patients.” Notably, “stroke survivors who had more severe depression, were younger, had higher body mass index…had less education, and were poorer, single or women were more likely to have suicidal thoughts,” the study found. “Seventeen percent of the people who’d had a stroke also had depression, which is the most common mental health complication in stroke survivors, the study authors noted.”
Related Links:
— “STUDY: MANY STROKE SURVIVORS THINK ABOUT SUICIDE,”Marilynn Marchione, Associated Press, February 7, 2013.