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Suicide in diabetes: an important but underappreciated problem

Molecular Psychiatry volume 27, pages 2916–2917 (2022)Cite this article

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Diabetes is a severe and persisting progressive disease with a high and growing prevalence and a major public health problem around the world [1]. The global diabetes prevalence in 2019 is estimated to be 9.3% (463 million people), rising to 10.2% (578 million) by 2030 [1]. About 90% of individuals with diabetes worldwide have type 2 diabetes and about 10% have type 1 diabetes. Diabetes leads to multiple serious complications including blindness, kidney failure, heart attacks, stroke and lower limb amputation. Considerable evidence suggests that diabetes is associated with psychiatric disorders, especially depression [2,3,4,5,6].

Multiple research studies in different countries indicate that diabetes is associated with suicide ideation, attempts, and deaths [2,3,4,5,6]. For example, a cohort study of the Swedish population demonstrated that individuals with diabetes were 3.36 times more likely to die by suicide than people in the general population [2]. This study indicates that many fatal insulin overdoses are suicides. A study in Japan showed that diabetes increases suicide risk by 3.53 times [3]. A systematic review and meta-analysis of studies that investigated suicide risk in patients with diabetes in many different countries found that diabetes increases suicide risk by 1.6 times [4]. The rates of suicidal ideation and suicidal attempt in patients with diabetes are as high as 26.4% and 13.3%, respectively [5].

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. James J. Peters VA Medical Center, Bronx, NY, USA

    Leo Sher

  2. Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA

    Leo Sher

  3. Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, NY, USA

    Leo Sher

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L.S. developed the concept, conducted the literature search, and wrote the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Leo Sher.

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Sher, L. Suicide in diabetes: an important but underappreciated problem. Mol Psychiatry 27, 2916–2917 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41380-022-01573-z

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