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STOCKHOLM, Sweden, Aug 10, 2005 (United Press International via COMTEX) -- Researchers say men feeling anxious and nervous are nine times as likely to attempt suicide within the next five years as those men without such feelings.
The findings, based on the Swedish Survey of Living Conditions, showed women reporting feeling anxious and nervous are three times as likely to attempt suicide.
The Swedish survey is an annual, representative face to face survey of 16 to 74 year olds. The years covered by the researchers were 1980-81, 1988-89, and 1995-96, and involved 34,500 people.
The participants were asked, among other things, if they were bothered by anxiety and nervousness.
The researchers then tracked the health of the interviewees.
During the five year monitoring period, 1,025 people died. Those who reported severe problems were twice as likely to die, and between three and four times as likely to be admitted to a hospital with mental health problems as those not reporting such problems.
For men, severe anxiety/nervousness was a greater risk factor for death than smoking and longstanding illness, while among women, smoking and longstanding illness were greater risk factors for death than anxiety/nervousness.
The study appears in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.
Copyright 2005 by United Press International.
