U.S. Suicide Rate Surges to a 30-Year High

[PreachersWife2004]

I stand by my opinion. It will be interesting to read the statistics of heroin and the recession and how they contributed to the rise in suicides. I'm hoping they're posted soon.

 

[The Cadet]

Where is your proof that it's the recession? How is heroin contributing? You think they felt powerless? Why?

I don't know why you need to keep putting my opinion down while upholding your own, but it's kinda tiresome now.

Okay, Heroin is actually wrong. My mistake. That's a completely different (but still related) epidemic, it's not causing suicide, unless you consider overdose the same thing. As for the economy:

http://articles.latimes.com/2011/apr/14/news/la-heb-suicide-economy-04142011
https://psmag.com/what-s-really-behind-america-s-suicide-epidemic-648f36763781#.fyd8wi6g1

A recession is just about always accompanied by a surge in suicides. Now, the story is, as it always is with suicide, far more complex than this*, but it does help put a target on one clear issue: people losing their jobs, their livelihoods, and their homes, and this desperation leading to desperate acts. Social isolation, loneliness, and more. There's a lot of study into this, and there are a lot of factors that are worth considering. I don't think "celebrating death" is one of them. That's an incredibly oversimplified view of suicide and how it actually works. You think the vast majority of people who commit suicide out of impulse are thinking about those issues when they pull the trigger or empty the bottle? Those are abstract, faraway concerns, not the kind of reason you would suddenly decide to weave a noose over.

You want another major factor? Availability. There are a lot of prescription pills that can, if taken in high numbers, kill you fairly quickly and painlessly, and that's how a lot of people end up dying. This access to, again, a quick, painless, largely irreversible way to end your life is another major factor - if you make it easier for people to kill themselves, more people are going to kill themselves.


*Suicide is a really weird subject. For example: did you know that most suicide is not premeditated, but rather impulsive? Most people who are stopped from committing suicide don't try again - only 6% of those stopped from jumping off bridges ended up actually killing themselves later on. Just removing coal gas from ovens in the UK led to a massive drop in suicides, as people could no longer use that quick, easy, painless, and irreversible method to off themselves. You'd think people would think harder about this kind of thing, but no, it's typically a very impulsive decision, affected by a great many factors, most of all availability.

 

[PreachersWife2004]

You still couldn't post without getting a dig in at my opinion, could you? Sheesh.

Your links connect suicide to the economy to the same way mine linked to abortion.

Obama would have us believe our economy is awesome right now. Unemployment is down. Everyone has health insurance. Or at least is supposed to. So...

I'm not convinced it's the economy, either.

 

[SummerMadness]

Where is your proof that it's the recession? How is heroin contributing? You think they felt powerless? Why?

I don't know why you need to keep putting my opinion down while upholding your own, but it's kinda tiresome now.

Perhaps because the meta-analyses on those studies have been performed?

Mental health outcomes in times of economic recession: a systematic literature review

It is known that the health of populations is shaped by the socioeconomic context, welfare systems, labour markets, public policies, and demographic characteristics of countries [4]. There are strong reasons to believe that changes in these key determinants may be reflected in the mental wellbeing of populations [11].

[...]

A longitudinal study from Greece showed that mental health and self-rated health were negatively affected by unemployment during the economic recession (2008–2013), especially among unemployed individuals [28]. A similar result was found in Italy, where the inequalities regarding self-reported health between workers and unemployed individuals were amplified after the onset of the recession [29].

[...]

Regarding morbidity rates for common mental disorders, longitudinal data from Iceland presented aggravated stress levels among the population, though only significant for women and especially if unemployed [36].

Greek comparable data from before and after the recession exhibited a statistically significant rise in the prevalence of depression [37, 38]. In Spain, evidence displayed a risk of suffering from depression during a recession that was almost three times higher than before [39]. Similar evidence was also found in Canada and Hong Kong [40, 41]. The same Spanish study also showed an increase in the prevalence of anxiety disorders [39]. Nevertheless, no changes in the prevalence of anxiety were found in the Canadian working population sample [40].

So not only did they find depression increased, a significant increase other common mental disorders, anxiety, etc. increased with economic downturns (this is across many countries and studies).

Alcohol abuse is shown to increase.

A cohort study from the USA stated that the overall prevalence of any alcohol use significantly declined during the recession but, conversely, binge-drinking became more frequent [42]. Spanish repeated cross-sectional evidence shows that this recession may have triggered alcohol-related disorders, since a noteworthy rise of 4.6 % in the abuse of alcohol and dependence on it was observed [39]. Furthermore, available data from Argentina also revealed that people may tend to increase their intake of lower-quality alcohol, which is known to pose additional threats to health [43].

It's interesting that consumption is down, but binge drinking is up. Binge drinking frequency is a precursor to alcoholism (I guess my dissertation work came in handy!). The fact that consumption is down suggests that among those consuming alcohol, they consume higher quantities, which is demonstrated by the increase in alcohol abuse.

We also see an increase in suicide rates during and after recessions.

In an ecological analysis, Reeves et al. found that most of the European countries experienced a significant rise (6.5 %) in suicide rates after the onset of the recession in 2009 [53]. The same was found in Canada (a rise of 4.5 %) and in the USA (a rise of 4.8 %) [54].

I'm not going to keep posting quotes from this paper (which analyzes over 100 studies, but their argument is based on multiple indicators). I think the most beautiful example is the analysis of alcohol consumption (overall consumption down, but binge drinking increasing says a lot about the drinking population). Nonetheless the power of this study is they talk about these relationships while still respecting their limitations (they devote five paragraphs to study limitations).

 

[SummerMadness]

Here is something that demonstrates the point I was making, an association does not mean you found the cause.

Depression and termination of pregnancy (induced abortion) in a national cohort of young Australian women: The confounding effect of women's experience of violence
From their conclusion

Violence, especially partner violence, makes a significantly greater contribution to women's depression compared with pregnancy termination or births. Any strategy to reduce the burden of women's depression should include prevention or reduction of violence against women and strengthening women's sexual and reproductive health to ensure that pregnancies are planned and wanted.

See how they saw the association of higher depression among women that have had abortions and started to parse apart the reasons that can contribute to depression?

Some more reading (trying to find publicly available studies):
The Prevalence of Domestic Violence Among Women Seeking Abortion

This study is behind a pay wall, but if you want, I can send it to you.
Abortion and long-term mental health outcomes: a systematic review of the evidence

Claims that women who have elective abortions will experience psychological distress have fueled much of the recent debate on abortion. It has been argued that the emotional sequelae of abortion may not occur until months or years after the event. Despite unclear evidence on such a phenomenon, adverse mental health outcomes of abortion have been used as a rationale for policy-making. We systematically searched for articles focused on the potential association between abortion and long-term mental health outcomes published between January 1, 1989 and August 1, 2008 and reviewed 21 studies that met the inclusion criteria. We rated the study quality based on methodological factors necessary to appropriately explore the research question. Studies were rated as Excellent (no studies), Very Good (4 studies), Fair (8 studies), Poor (8 studies), or Very Poor (1 study). A clear trend emerges from this systematic review: the highest quality studies had findings that were mostly neutral, suggesting few, if any, differences between women who had abortions and their respective comparison groups in terms of mental health sequelae. Conversely, studies with the most flawed methodology found negative mental health sequelae of abortion.

 

[PreachersWife2004]

But we're not actually in a recession...

 

[SummerMadness]

But we're not actually in a recession...

Suicide rate increases happen during and after recessions, there is a lag observed. I don't think the it's wholly economic, I would also point to the lack of spending on mental health: Most U.S. Health Spending Is Exploding — but Not for Mental Health

 

[rambot]

Well this didn't take long:
Link Deleted: There was a thread on this website that just popped up "Why does god hate me".

Honestly, I'm having a hard time believing that you've never heard phrases such as this before..

Of course. It goes against your charicature.
Here is a real life example.
My kitchen caught on fire yesterday. No joke. I am no longer living in my home. Our kitchen is totally destroyed and smoke damage has permiated our main floor and water has ruined most of the main floor and all of the basement floor. Happily the fire department managed to save my new puppy. It looks like they will have to go straight down to the studs. It sucks pretty bad. WE won't be back in our home for likely 6 months.
When I put this up on facebook. I got about 90 replies from people. Every person from my church who replied asked how they could help.
This morning my pastor called and wanted to chat and see how we were doing. When I got to the church, all the staff there (about 9) came gave me a hug and we're worried. When they prayed over me, it was for strength, perseverence, the ability to reframe it as an adventure for my little ones, that he would provide wisdom to those helping me, and gratitude for the effectiveness of my insurer thus far.

This is the kind of Christians I have been surrounded by for my entire life. This is my experience. I am not alone with this experience but I won't argue that what you say never gets utterred. There are callous people who have no idea how to comfort others. But there are secular people who do the too. "There, there. There, there. Let's go get wasted". Please. That is not providing comfort.

Christians and nonchristians share the same personality traits and interpersonal skills.

 

[Cearbhall]

and why wouldn't it? This is a culture that celebrates death via abortion and euthanasia.

I'd love to see the comparative analysis that you did using the data and laws from various countries which brought you to the conclusion that this relationship exists.

Oh, and the longitudinal U.S. analysis.

 

[rambot]

I stand by my opinion. It will be interesting to read the statistics of heroin and the recession and how they contributed to the rise in suicides. I'm hoping they're posted soon.

I gotta ask, and I'm not being facetious here: what is the point in holding an opinion if it isn't backed up with data or research? I could take a guess but anything I stay may come off as an insult and this is something I really want to try to understand

 

[Cearbhall]

Yet a CTRL-F search of the word "military" in the article comes up with "0". Please let me know if I can inform you any further on the topic linked in the OP.

Are you under the impression that veterans don't exist in society? Are they living in some other realm of existence that puts them outside of the data that is discussed in the article? JustOneWay was very smart to point out the influence of military suicides on the overall rate, since the past decade has obviously seen a sharp increase in the number of Americans who are recovering from active duty.

Fair enough. I'll cede the point that this thread is only assessing civilian suicide rates.

That hardly matters, though, since veterans are civilians.

 

[Murby]

Of course. It goes against your charicature.
Here is a real life example.
My kitchen caught on fire yesterday. No joke. I am no longer living in my home. Our kitchen is totally destroyed and smoke damage has permiated our main floor and water has ruined most of the main floor and all of the basement floor. Happily the fire department managed to save my new puppy. It looks like they will have to go straight down to the studs. It sucks pretty bad. WE won't be back in our home for likely 6 months.
When I put this up on facebook. I got about 90 replies from people. Every person from my church who replied asked how they could help.
This morning my pastor called and wanted to chat and see how we were doing. When I got to the church, all the staff there (about 9) came gave me a hug and we're worried. When they prayed over me, it was for strength, perseverence, the ability to reframe it as an adventure for my little ones, that he would provide wisdom to those helping me, and gratitude for the effectiveness of my insurer thus far.

This is the kind of Christians I have been surrounded by for my entire life. This is my experience. I am not alone with this experience but I won't argue that what you say never gets utterred. There are callous people who have no idea how to comfort others. But there are secular people who do the too. "There, there. There, there. Let's go get wasted". Please. That is not providing comfort.

Christians and nonchristians share the same personality traits and interpersonal skills.

ah.. that's not what I meant...

For some people, believing in a god means thinking that everything bad that happens is an action of god handing down punishment for something.

In layman's terms, that's the best I can do to describe it.

Some people handle religion quite well.. others not so much.... Some live their life, do their thing, think rationally about things.. when bad stuff happens its because bad stuff sometimes happens.

But for others, and there's a significant percentage, everything in their life is somehow related to god.. if something good happens, its because god allowed it.. when something bad happens, its because god made it happen.. and when life hands down a series of challenges, some of these people seem to sink to the bottomless pit thinking there's some all powerful entity who's got it out for them.. and that brings psychological issues.

Its a lot like drugs or alcohol.. some folks can handle them, others get sucked in, become addicts, and destroy their own lives or the lives of others.

 

[JustOneWay]

You still couldn't post without getting a dig in at my opinion, could you? Sheesh.

Your links connect suicide to the economy to the same way mine linked to abortion.

Obama would have us believe our economy is awesome right now. Unemployment is down. Everyone has health insurance. Or at least is supposed to. So...

I'm not convinced it's the economy, either.

When has Obama said our economy is awesome right now? He certainly is correct to say the economy is better now than it was in 2008 and 2009.

 

[JustOneWay]

Are you under the impression that veterans don't exist in society? Are they living in some other realm of existence that puts them outside of the data that is discussed in the article? JustOneWay was very smart to point out the influence of military suicides on the overall rate, since the past decade has obviously seen a sharp increase in the number of Americans who are recovering from active duty.

That hardly matters, though, since veterans are civilians.

Indeed.

I was floored at how some thought that veteran suicides are not included in the study, as if they are some separate group of people within our borders. The study did not make any note of suicide within groups in a particular occupation. Obviously, the sharp rise in military suicide has made an impact on the rise in American suicides.

 

[PreachersWife2004]

I gotta ask, and I'm not being facetious here: what is the point in holding an opinion if it isn't backed up with data or research? I could take a guess but anything I stay may come off as an insult and this is something I really want to try to understand

Do you research every single one of your opinions? If you do, you must have a lot of free time.

It was a comment in a thread about suicide, not a professional debate.

I think I'll just troll every thread now with "what's your evidence for that opinion".

 

[PreachersWife2004]

I'd love to see the comparative analysis that you did using the data and laws from various countries which brought you to the conclusion that this relationship exists.

Oh, and the longitudinal U.S. analysis.

I looked at the media culture around me. Some of the posts I've read in general here at CF.

Again, I'm sure you understand the impossibility of interviewing DEAD PEOPLE.

My current analysis has as much evidence as anyone else's current analysis. It's the fact that people don't *like* it that bugs them. Maybe it's pricking at some consciences, I dunno. It's rather idiotic to continue attacking my opinion and demanding evidence when the evidence presented for other opinions carries as much weight (or as little, if you're a glass half empty kinda person).

I still can't stress enough that you can't ask the DEAD people so we'll never truly know why the suicudes rate suddenly jumped.

For all we know, it's because Trump is the front runner GOP nomination.

 

[Cearbhall]

I don't think the right to bear arms is part of the growing suicide rate.

I can also see where someone might believe that the fight to retain our rights to own guns could contribute to suicide. I too disagree with that, but respect your opinion on it.

I'm not really concerned with opinions, so I'll just put forward the facts...

http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/magazine/guns-and-suicide/

"Research shows that whether attempters live or die depends in large part on the ready availability of highly lethal means, especially firearms."

 

[JustOneWay]

I still can't stress enough that you can't ask the DEAD people so we'll never truly know why the suicudes rate suddenly jumped.

Obviously, but we can talk to the people closest to them and get a good idea why each individual killed themselves.

 

[rambot]

Do you research every single one of your opinions? If you do, you must have a lot of free time.

No I don't. BUT, if I want to share it with other people in the context of a DISCUSSION, yes I do.

It was a comment in a thread about suicide, not a professional debate.

It doesn't have to be a "professional debate" but I think an INFORMED debate is a good. Clearly, you have no problem keeping your shared opinions uninformed.
The problem if you do this consistently though is that you appear uninformed and opinionated; essentially a blaring, untuned, untrained trumpet player.
This is NOT a flattering perception..at least not for me.

I think I'll just troll every thread now with "what's your evidence for that opinion".

Asking for evidence is not trolling in my opinion. You SHOULD be able to support your opinion if you want to share it. IF you don't want to share it, believe any kind of crazy you like.

 

[Cearbhall]

I gotta ask, and I'm not being facetious here: what is the point in holding an opinion if it isn't backed up with data or research? I could take a guess but anything I stay may come off as an insult and this is something I really want to try to understand

I'm also wondering this. Where does the motivation to hold the opinion come from, if not from evidence? Is there a desire for the opinion in question to be true?

Do you research every single one of your opinions? If you do, you must have a lot of free time.

It was a comment in a thread about suicide, not a professional debate.

I think I'll just troll every thread now with "what's your evidence for that opinion".

How does a person form an opinion otherwise? At that point, I would call it a hypothesis, or even just a research question. Opinions should be presented as such, but you've turned yours into assertions. I usually phrase it as "I wonder if..." and I don't get mad when people suggest I might be wrong.

And this is the Discussion & Debate forum. It is rather formal, and we do ask people to back up their opinions in every thread. It's not trolling. Intellectual honesty is a basic expectation for a productive discussion.

Again, I'm sure you understand the impossibility of interviewing DEAD PEOPLE.

What are you talking about? The data exists. I'm not asking you to go do a direct study on 1960s suicide attempters.