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Physicians must be aware of mental health of patients
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CHICAGO — Suicide is not caused by one single acute stress, such as poor visual results after refractive surgery; instead, it is a result of multiple factors, a psychiatrist said here. She recommended that ophthalmologists be aware of their patients' entire health history.
Jennifer S. Morse, MD, made two presentations at the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery meeting, reinforcing the need for ophthalmologists to consider mental health before performing refractive surgery.
"There are no published studies to suggest increased risk of suicide or depression after LASIK," she said. "You always have to look at this from the standpoint that suicide and depression have multiple etiological factors. You must look at the entire picture."
She explained that suicide is rare and almost always a product of many personal issues, such as mental or chronic illness, depression, history of sexual abuse and genetics.
"That's one thing that you can't forget when you're thinking about this. It's natural that people, immediately upon a suicide, typically jump to one thing ... but, in fact, it is multi-determined by comorbid factors," Dr. Morse explained. "People who commit suicide are believed to have the underlying predisposition to do so."
Ophthalmologists must make it a priority to screen their patients well and possibly rethink treating potentially depressed or unstable patients.
"You should be aware of the patient's mental health history, and you should also read that medication list," Dr. Morse said. "I'm kind of amazed at the number of ophthalmologists that have told me that they know their patients are on antidepressants, but so is everybody. It makes a difference if they started it last week or they've been on it for 2 years and are perfectly stable."