Chronic Illness,Pollution and Suicide Linked
For a second time, studies have shown a link between the air pollution in a region, chronic breathing problems like asthma, and suicide.
According to two Taiwanese research studies, asthma was likely the factor in 1 in 14 suicides among young people in Taiwan, and air particle pollution, a major problem in Asia, may have been another contribution.
This is not the first time asthma and other chronic – but manageable – conditions have been connected to people under the age of 30 taking their own lives.
While researchers are not positive about what it is that might cause this link, there is some speculation that it may be the disease affecting a person’s outlook on life, worsening a preexisting depressive disorder.
Pollution’s role in the issue may be as simple as aggravating asthma, and so starting the cycle of illness and depression.
Because of the significance of the find, research lead Dr. Changsoo Kim of the Yonsei University College of Medicine believed that screening for anyone with a chronic illness of any kind should be mandatory, to test them for depression symptoms.
This includes those who have other conditions, such as heart disease. During the course of the same study, Kim and his team found a 19% increase of suicide in such patients.
This is especially startling, as teens with severe asthma alone were twice as likely to commit suicide, and the problem seems to be passing beyond generational gaps.
The studies and their conclusions have been published in the American Journal of Psychiatry.
Filed Under: Mental Health
