Oct 11, 2021 23:00:00

Men's suicide rate drops as a result of Viagra's price explosion

Deterioration of mental health often leads to decreased libido, but on the contrary, it is uncertain whether increasing libido improves mental health. However, some men in their 50s seemed to have had such an effect, and a study conducted in Sweden found that lower prices and increased use of Viagra improved mental health. The suicide rate of men has decreased. '

Sildenafil and suicide in Sweden

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8159839/

Suicides among Swedish men decreased after Viagra became more affordable --Sapien Journal

https://sapienjournal.org/suicides-among-swedish-men-decreased-after-viagra-became-more-affordable/

In 2013, the patent for the therapeutic drug ' sildenafil ' sold as Viagra expired in Sweden, so the price of Viagra is about 1200 Swedish kronor (about 15,000 yen) to about 300 Swedish kronor (about 15,000 yen) per 12 tablets. It dropped sharply to 4000 yen). As a result, the average annual number of users of Viagra has increased from 62,000 to 101,000.

Ralph Catalano and colleagues at the University of California, Berkeley looked at this phenomenon and investigated the relationship between increased Viagra users and Sweden's suicide rate. Catalano and colleagues surveyed men between the ages of 50 and 59, who have the highest rates of increase in Viagra use and suicide in Sweden, based on data from the Swedish National Health and Welfare Commission.

Catalano and colleagues first

used the Box-Jenkins method to model the number of suicides between January 2005 and June 2013, before price declines occurred. We applied this model from July 2013 to December 2014 within 18 months, when the impact of price declines is expected to be particularly high, and examined how different the expected and observed values are.

As a result, it was found that the observed number of suicides after the price decline was about 65 less than the expected value per month on average. Also, when compared with men of other age groups and women aged 50 to 59, only men aged 50 to 59 showed a correlation between the number of suicides and the number of Viagra users.

From this, Catalano and colleagues said, 'Viagra may have improved relationships with worsening relationships with sexual intimacy and had a positive impact on mental health. Counseling and behavior for couples as well as drugs. Public policies such as therapy and vacation law can help improve relationships with and around our partners. '