Article abstract:

Invisible illness increases risk of suicidal ideation: The role of social workers in preventing suicide, by Cathy L Pederson, Kathleen Gorman-Ezell, Greta Hochstetler-Mayer in Health & Social Work, June 14, 2017 [Preprint]

Many chronic, invisible illnesses that involve chronic pain – fibromyalgia, complex regional pain syndrome, postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, and myalgic encephalomyelitis – can greatly affect both physical and mental health.

Although these illnesses are not fatal, they severely affect function and quality of life (Pederson & Brook, 2017). It is interesting to note that these disorders disproportionately affect women (Alonso & Hernan, 2008; Branco et al., 2009; Carew et al., 2009), who are often thought to exaggerate symptoms and may not be taken seriously by the medical community.

One study showed that nearly 50 percent of women with postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome fell into the high-risk group for suicide (Pederson & Brook, 2017). Clearly, we need to care more for these chronically ill women to decrease suicide risk.