Increase Rate of Suicide after Gastric Bypass

Don't take this the wrong way, but---your posting history here starts TODAY. This tends to make me think you haven't been around here in a rather long time. Perhaps it would be better if you eased your way back into this board before you started 'educating' us.

You seem to be assuming that transfer addictions and nutritional deficiencies are what causes suicides. We don't know this. (I too have seen the studies that do say that there are higher rates of suicides post op).  But you are missing what is an absolutely integral piece as well:  mental health.  I've run our local support group and do notice that the obese population also has a high incidence of mental health issues.  Obesity/depression often go hand in hand.  Whether is is related to society's negative treatment of obesity, or the imbalance of hormones when you are obese etc, it is also an important factor that also needs to be studied.

Dawn

Here is the report of the actual study :

http://www.amjmed.com/article/S0002-9343%2810%2900574-7/full text

Considering how desperate a lot of us are to get the weight off and get healthy, I would agree with Dawn. Since I put on more weight, coupled with increased health issues like being diagnosed with Diabetes in October (and man have I been feeling just crappy since), I am sure there is more than a few of us that have either been or felt suicidal before a scalpel even came anywhere near us.

I personally can say that if it wasn't for me having surgery I may be even worse off...but I am now looking at this as an opportunity to turn my life around and take better care of myself as well as regaining some happiness ( and hopefully saying goodbye to diabetes related issues). Is my gastric sleeve going to be the cure all? Heck no, but it will certainly help me do something I have been so unsuccessful doing on my own. Getting the weight off and maintaining the loss (mainly the second part).

I have had a history of depression and was even hospitalized once in high school for a suicide attempt (though that was related much more to a very abusive and scary relationship that I found myself in). I have anxiety issues which has led me to compulsive eating and/or cutting and as I recognize these issues I am seeking out help with them so I do not continue down this route. But again...as with others this ALL exists in my pre-op world. I have not even had surgery yet. (3 more weeks! YAY!).

dawn, i think that some of this is definitely linked to society looking at the obese as lower class citizens. It teaches a sort of self-loathing in my opinion.  I really appreciated your input here as well as others such as amber's susan's and msbatt's. I agree with others that this whole post does seem suspect as you haven't been active in the community  and just came back now starting with this post. it feel's like you are trying to sell something...  

On your blog you state: 
      "We’ve got the studies now that show gastric bypass is causing all sorts of problems
      that are manifesting themselves into what appears to be emotional problems such as 
      anxiety, depression, panic, addiction, alcoholism, and sadly, as seen here, suicide.

Stating that gastric bypass is causing emotional problems including suicide is pretty strong language backed up by no proof of causation.  They may have both (MO and suicide) may be products of the same undelying issues but to say one caused the other would be malpractice if you were a medical profession.  But I am guessing you are not.

Ah, see, I didn't even bother looking at the blog. But there it is in black white. She's full of **** and posting lies.

Correlation is not causation.

Anecdote is not the plural of data.

I am so stealing this!

I really think that their could be something to a higher suicide rate after WLS.   WLS can and does make SOME people less healthy than they were before WLS, especially if there are nutritional deficiencies.

Physical illness leads to depression.  Depression comes before suicide.  However, I think there are many more factors involved in making a person want to commit suicide, and certainly alcoholism and other addictions can play a role.

Probably 99% of us have addictive personalities.  That addiction wants to be fed.  Turning to alcohol, gambling, sex or sticking with food is going to take a toll on physical and mental health.  Physical and mental health go hand in hand.  You really are not going to have good physical healthy without good mental health and visa versa.

JMHO