1st year cancer patients 20 times more likely to commit suicide

An extensive study in Japan has revealed that 1st year cancer patients are 20 times more likely to commit suicide than normal people.

The National Cancer Center of Japan conducted a 20-year study from 1990 through 2010 that showed patients diagnosed with cancer are 20 times more likely to die due to one reason or another in the first year.

The study covered 103,000 patients aged between 40 and 69 over two decades.

According to the results, 13 out of 11,000 patients diagnosed with cancer committed suicide in the first year while another 16 were killed in various types of accidents.

The rate of suicide was 23.9 times the average population and the rate of accidental deaths 18.8 times.

Interestingly enough, center officials said, the rate of suicide for those who go beyond the first year of cancer diagnosis did not differ widely from the average.

They said people fall under an enormous amount of stress when told of their illness but adjust quickly after the first year.

However, the high level of stress often leads to mental incapacity, thus resulting in an abnormally high numbers of accidental deaths, they added.