Type 2 Diabetes, Three Times Risk of Suicide When Accompanied by Mental Illness...Doubles when you have depression and insomnia
Jun 20, 2025
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Studies have shown that chronic diseases and suicide are highly associated, and among them, diabetic patients have a high risk of suicide, but they have mainly been studies of type 1 diabetes patients. Based on health insurance data covering the entire nation, this study analyzed all adult type 2 diabetes patients, more than 90% of Korean diabetics, as the largest in the world.
A team of professors Lee Seung-hwan (co-corresponding author) and Baek Han-sang (first author) of the endocrine department at Seoul St. Mary's Hospital of Catholic Medical University followed up and analyzed 870,000 adult type 2 diabetes patients aged 20 or older in Korea for 12 years with a research team led by Professor Han Kyung-do (co-corresponding author) of Soongsil University.
According to a survey of 875,671 diabetic patients who underwent medical checkups in 2009 using the big data of the National Health Insurance Service by 2021, type 2 diabetics had a 3.24 times higher risk of suicide when accompanied by schizophrenia. In addition, it was found that bisexual disorders were 2.47 times more dangerous than bisexual disorders, 2.08 times more depression, 2.03 times more insomnia, and 1.63 times more dangerous than anxiety disorders.
In these mental illness companions, all-cause mortality was also significantly high, and it was confirmed that mental health had a significant impact on the survival rate of diabetic patients.
Among patients with type 2 diabetes, the characteristics of the group who died by suicide were higher in the proportion of men, low income, smokers, and excessive drinkers compared to those who did not.
Diabetes is the eighth leading cause of death in Korea. If left unattended, it can cause high-risk complications such as cardiovascular disease and kidney disease, so early diagnosis and active management are essential. Diabetes is a disease caused by a lack of insulin that regulates glucose (blood sugar) in the blood or a lack of functioning properly, and is divided into types 1 and 2.
Most Koreans have type 2 diabetes, and because insulin resistance (insulin dysfunction) increases when visceral fat accumulates, type 2 diabetes is also increasing as the obese population increases. In particular, the prevalence of diabetes has nearly doubled in people in their 20s and 30s over the past decade, which seems to be caused by unhealthy eating habits and lifestyle habits of lack of exercise.
Professor Baek Han-sang of Uijeongbu St. Mary's Hospital, the first author, said, `If blood sugar is not well controlled, the quality of life is lowered and mental diseases such as depression, insomnia, and anxiety are likely to occur. On the contrary, if mental diseases are not controlled, self-management or drug compliance may decrease and blood sugar control may deteriorate again. Therefore, preemptive intervention and continuous evaluation of mental health are essential in the treatment of diabetes"This study quantitatively identifies suicide risk factors for diabetic patients in Korea and can be used as an important basis for establishing health care policies and revising clinical guidelines in the future."," he added.
Co-corresponding author Lee Seung-hwan, a professor at Seoul St. Mary's Hospital, said, `Although mutual mechanisms have been suggested that insulin resistance can cause changes in brain glucose metabolism and nerve inflammation, and chronic stress such as mental illness can stimulate the sympathetic nervous system and cause insulin resistance to cause type 2 diabetes, further studies on pathophysiology are needed.' As the main factors that can increase the risk of suicide are confirmed to be elderly, low-income, and insulin use, mental health assessment and counseling intervention should be included in the standard treatment for these high-risk groups," he stressed.
Co-author Kang Dong-woo, a professor of psychiatry at Seoul St. Mary's Hospital, said, "This study is significant in that it has evaluated the increase in suicide risk in the event of type 2 diabetes by detailed mental health diseases in multiple ways" and suggested the need for a follow-up study to further explore the weights of each direction for the interaction in both directions and to evaluate the effect of therapeutic intervention on the death-related prognosis of type 2 diabetes patients."," he added.
The study was recently published in the international journal Journal of Affective Disorders.
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This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
