Boob Jobs and Increased Suicide Risk
I was disturbed to read about a recent article that suggests an unexpected link between women who received cosmetic breast implants and an increased suicide rate. This article looked at 6 clinical studies and found that women who got boob jobs had twice the suicide rate compared with the suicide rate of the general population. The article goes to conclude that more study is warranted specifically looking at this issue, and that cosmetic surgeons who suspect that their prospect breast augmentation patient may be suffering from a mental illness are encouraged to refer their patients for a full mental health consultation before surgery. (abstract follows) Read more
Constantly Talking About Your Problems with Friends May Make Things Worse
I found an interesting report in a current issue of Developmental Psychology that suggests a limitation of constantly talking about your problems with friends - at least if you are a teenager girl. Dr. Amanda Rose studied 813 children and teens for 6 months and saw that girls who spent a lot of time co-ruminating with peers (constantly talk about their problems with friends) are more likely to develop depression and anxiety than those who did not. While it makes sense to talk about problems, there are limitations especially when problems are continually talked about. Dr. Rose suggested that these results may also apply to adults. Read more
Selenium Supplements and Diabetes
I found this article summary of a study that found that people who took selenium supplementation increased their diabetes risk compared with people who took placebos. In case you’re wondering why you’re reading about selenium supplements and a link to diabetes on a mental health website:
1) There are patient anecdotes on taking selenium to protect against hair loss when taking certain bipolar disorder medications (I was personally given this advice by a patient via discussion group 10 years ago when I was misdiagnosed with BP and taking a BP drug that caused my hair to fall out)
2) There are studies suggesting that certain atypical psychotropic drugs used to treat bipolar disorder are linked with onset of diabetes
For those patients who “self medicate” with supplements including selenium and are taking drugs that may further increase their risk of developing diabetes, you may want to talk with your psychiatrist and make sure you let him or her know all the supplements you are taking.