According to a recent study in the Journal of Epidemiology (discussed in this Reuters article), women who received breast implants had a higher-than-average risk of suicide and were more than twice as likely as women who'd had other cosmetic procedures to take their own lives. More specifically,
The study included 12,144 U.S. women who'd received breast implants between 1960 and 1988, and 3,614 women who'd undergone other types of cosmetic surgery during the same period.Researchers compared the two groups' rates of death from various causes over an average of 20 years; the rates in each group were also compared with statistics for women in the general population.
Strangely enough, women with implants had a lower risk of death from most causes than those in the general population (including breast cancer). I'm no expert, but a possible hypothesis for this finding might be that these women are more appearance-driven and thus take greater care of their bodies than most individuals (i.e. working out more often, eating healthier, not smoking, etc...) While these positive behaviors may decrease the likelihood of diabetes, heart problems, obesity, and lung cancer, I'm really not sure why women with breast implants would have a lower risk of dying from other causes, such as breast cancer.
In any case, the breast implant-suicide connection is the most important and interesting finding of the study. Some researchers have tried to explain the link by citing higher rates of depression, anxiety and low self-esteem among women who receive that specific surgery. Makes sense to me. But in that case, shouldn't women who undergo various other plastic surgery procedures be considered just as at-risk? After all, if you are extremely unhappy with your body and experience depression and constant self-consciousness as a result, wouldn't those having a nose job or liposuction be prone to suicidal thoughts as well? According to the article, that's not the case.
One recent study found that women who received cosmetic breast implants were more likely to have a history of psychiatric hospitalization than those who underwent other types of plastic surgery.
What IS it about breasts, exactly? I have no clue on this one - maybe you guys have some theories? Anyway, this new study only adds to the idea that many times a quick fix procedure won't solve underlying problems (though eventual suicide is at the extreme end of the spectrum). Consistently poor body image, anxiety, and depression are often signs of problems that are more than skin deep. Some things a plastic surgeon simply can't fix.
