Does having breast implants make a woman a suicide risk? According to a study published in the August issue of Annals of Plastic Surgery, the answer is yes. ABC News and USA Today are reporting that the study, conducted by researchers in Maryland, Tennessee, and Sweden over an eight-year period, found that "women who have breast implants are three times as likely to die by suicide and have a similar increased risk of death as a result of drug use or alcoholism."
The 3,527 women used in the study were all Swedish and had received implants between the period of 1965 and 1993. According to the study, "no notable increase was seen in the first 10 years after surgery, but 10 to 19 years after, risk was 4.5 times higher, and six times higher after 20 years, compared with the expected suicide rate."
Those are scary numbers. Hopefully the study will not only encourage more research into the effect of implants on mental health, but also highlight the importance of pre-surgery consultations.