A group led by Associate Professor Miharu Nakanishi of Tohoku University, Principal Research Fellow Sarah Sullivan of the University of Bristol, and Atsushi Nishida, Director of the Center for Social Health and Medicine at the Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Medical Science, found that the onset of menopause in women is associated with an increased risk of suicide. revealed that it is related.
It has been reported that menopause, which women experience in their middle-aged and older years, is triggered by changes in hormonal balance and accompanying physical discomfort, which increases the risk of depression, suicidal thoughts (feelings of wanting to commit suicide), and even suicide.There are also reports that a certain percentage of women who have started menopause have suicidal thoughts.
However, previous studies have not been able to ascertain the condition of women before the onset of menopause, so it was unclear whether women's suicidal thoughts occurred before or after the onset of menopause.
本研究では、「更年期が自殺したい気持ちを生じさせるのか」という仮説を検証するため、東京の思春期の子どもと養育者を追跡して調査している「東京ティーンコホート」から、2944人（平均年齢44.0歳）の母親のデータを解析した。第2期調査（2014年7月～2017年1月）時の自殺念慮の有無を調整したうえで、第4期調査（2019年2月～2021年9月）時の自殺念慮の有無と更年期の関連を検討した結果、第2期調査後に更年期が始まった人は、まだ更年期が始まっていない人と比べて、第4期調査時に自殺念慮を生じるリスクが統計的に有意に高かった。
In other words, even when considering the state of suicidal thoughts before menopause, the results showed that suicidal thoughts are more likely to occur once menopause begins.The study also found that receiving a lot of support from society suppresses feelings of suicidal thoughts.This suggests that, more than ever, society needs to provide support for women who have begun menopause, while paying close attention to the emergence of suicidal thoughts.
