Stroke survivors can face many challenges as they recover. Now, a new federal survey is showing that one out of every 12 stroke survivors has contemplated suicide or thought that he or she would be better off dead.
That's more common than what's seen in people with other health problems such as heart attacks or cancer, and it suggests that depression after stroke is more serious than many had realized.
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"It was surprising" and shows a need for more treatment, said the study's leader, Dr. Amytis Towfighi of the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. "When patients have their depression treated they're more motivated to take their medication, do therapy and live a full life."
The study was discussed Thursday at an American Stroke Association conference in Honolulu.
More than 6 million Americans have had a stroke; about 800,000 occur each year in the U.S. Studies suggest that up to a third of stroke survivors develop depression, but few have looked at suicidal thoughts - one sign of how serious it is. Stroke kills about 130,000 Americans each year - about one of every 18 U.S. deaths -- according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
"It's not necessarily active suicidal thoughts with a plan, but perhaps wishing you hadn't survived the event," Towfighi explained.
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She used the National Health and Nutrition Surveys, a government project that gives checkups and questionnaires to a representative sample of adults. More than 17,000 people were surveyed from 2005 through 2010.
They included 678 who had suffered a stroke; 758 who had had a heart attack; 1,242 with cancer, and 1,991 with diabetes. Researchers don't know how long ago these problems occurred of if people were still being treated for them.
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Stroke survivors more likely to contemplate suicide