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US Suicide Rate Surges To Highest Level In Almost Three Decades, Says Report (bbc.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from BBC: The suicide rate in the U.S. has surged to its highest level in almost three decades, according to a new report from the CDC. There was no explanation for the rise but some experts have pointed to increased abuse of prescription opiates and the financial downturn that began in 2008 as likely factors. The report did not break down the suicides by education level or income, but previous studies found rising suicide rates among white people without university degrees. CDC reported on Friday that suicides have increased in the US to a rate of 13 per 100,000 people, the highest since 1986. The overall suicide rate rose by 24% from 1999 to 2014, according to the CDC. However, the rate increased 43% among white men ages 45 to 64 and 63% for women in the same age-range. In 2014, more than 14,000 middle-aged white people killed themselves. That figure is double the combined suicides total for all blacks, Hispanics, Asians, Pacific Islanders, American Indians, and Alaska Natives. The suicide rate only declined for only two groups: black men and all people over 75.
With the press, political garbage, continued military actions, bad economy and the apparent focus on material wealth- who would expect a different outcome?
People need stability, security, and community to really thrive. This country has not promoted those values.
This shouldn't be framed as a political or religious problem- it's a lack of decency. It means that as individuals we've simply stopped caring. Societies rise and fall based on how people treat others on a daily basis. We treat each other badly. Some people will decide to leave. Some will take their lives. Some just take it. Those who complain are called whiners.
You can in fact beat a person to the point where they prefer death. The beatings in the USA are done by a million paper cuts.
Another consultant who stuck it out.
"We are the Priests, of the Temples of Syrinx..."
...should probably include a hotline number.
I've written software since the 70s. Never had a problem getting a job. In '08 I left a good company to join a startup, cuz I was young and stupid and wanted a million bux. Startup flamed out after a year. No sweat, I'll just get another job.
Since '10 you wanna guess how many companies I've interviewed for? 0. Exactly 0. Nobody even wants to interview a 50+ person, let alone hire them. I've got 30 years experience with embedded systems. I've written several Linux device drivers. I've written 3x more for systems other than Linux. I've designed systems from back of the napkin descriptions. I'm pretty good at maybe 10 languages, expert in 3-5. Biggest of all, I understand the importance of SCM and bug tracking.
I'm not gonna shoot myself or anything, but I've got friends my age in the same boat I'm in. Unemployed for years, no health insurance, no income, nobody wants to interview us. Our golden years are looking like fools gold to us.
Snu-snu.
Have gnu, will travel.
some experts have pointed to increased abuse of prescription opiates
That is a symptom, not the cause.
Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
There's a reason it's the "highest suicide rate in three decades". It's most definitely thanks to Reaganomics and the trickle-down legacy, where the futures of middle and working class people trickled right down the drain.
The decline of labor unions meant that working people had less power in the meta-transaction of labor v capital. After decades of the middle and working classes gaining power, suddenly watching that power being taken away by orange-haired frauds like Ronald Reagan has taken the heart out of those people. They're working as hard as ever, and watching as the pensions of their parents turn into their own 401k bucket of nothing.
In ten years, we're going to see that generation (and the next) reach old age with nothing but their social security checks to live on. That's when we're either going to see the suicide rate skyrocket or we'll come to learn as a society that we've allowed stage 4 capitalism to run us off the rails.
You are welcome on my lawn.
The statistical suicide rates for opiate 'addicts' are probably severely flawed. I suspect a large portion are actually chronic pain sufferers that didn't get adequate medical care. The medical community is absolutely horrendous at treating chronic pain when they don't have some obvious cause. You are basically absolutely screwed if they can't look at some x-ray or MRI or CT and see something broken or out of place.
Mine started from a stupid fall onto a hammer two years ago. Eventually it got so bad I couldn't stand or sit or sleep basically live. I've forgotten how many times are frozen my skin solid trying to get the pain to go down. I am only taking tramdol at 150mg for that last two years. If I had done it I would've been considered an 'addict' statistic because there was a prescription bottle in the room.
I got a call from the Mayo Clinic the next day saying they accepted my case but that took more than two years to get to this point and being treated like you're some kind addict because your chronic pain.
if you hurt yourself make sure you fucking break it really good so the doctor can figure out what the fuck is wrong with you quickly otherwise you are screwed.
Most of history was a worst time to be alive than right now, for the average person at least. It just somehow always seems to be fashionable to claim that "things were always better in the good ole days". It's just stupid cliche' bullshit from entitled brats.
Lost my job last year and I don't have any hope of finding a new one. My health sucks too but not enough to get disability. And my savings is running out. I've been living off my 401K so tax time this year took a lot of the money I had left, and they hit me with quarterly tax stuff for 2016 because they think I'll make too much money.
No you idiots. I am making zero money.
I can't afford my Obamacare, at almost $300 a month so that's going to cancel. Can't get medicaid or food stamps because I made too much money last year even though I haven't been employed at all since September. Well, also single men don't get coverage anyway. We don't matter.
So what am I supposed to do when the last of my 401K runs out? I have enough money left to last three more months. No kids, no spouse, a few worthless pets and me, age 46. And I am too sick and too weak and too out of options to care any more.
Job? I've tried. They want kids fresh out of school who will work twice the hours for the money. 15 years of experience from my last job is not of much value to anyone else when they can just hire some kids or H1-Bs cheap. Plus, I have no degree Hell I didn't even finish high school. I've worked and worked and worked for all these years and have nothing to show for it. So I am looking at GED and starting all that stuff and trying to pass it all and somehow afford college? At my age? With what money? I haven't been in school of any kind in decades and my mind is not up to it.
So yea I am thinking there is just no fucking point to this any more. I see no way out, no way forward. And I can't even TALK to anyone because the moment you tell someone you feel hopeless, they treat you like a mental case. Locking me in a padded room is not going to HELP. So I can't even say anything to friends. I can't tell them anything. I'm all alone.
When the money runs out, I'm done.
Unacceptable! Unacceptable!
This cannot be tolerated! Please people! Demand that it stop immediately! Indelible, uneditable comments is Slashdot's last redeeming value! Without it all is lost!
“He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
What is success?
What is beauty?
Axiology is a study we do not teach much or consider much these days.
The ancient Greeks studied axiology, ontology, and epistemology. They were curious about beauty, truth, value, belief, and opinion. This was the glorious age of the great philosophers who thought that they should be kings and rule the world.
Fast forward to 2016, in general, as a society, we no longer discuss these things and they are spoon fed to us by media, commercials, Facebook, CNN, Fox News etc... Sure there are still people who think about these things, but our culture is youth driven and based on consumerism.
Live has to be lived intentionally, with thoughtful care and purpose.
Things "are what they are" and we have a choice in how we react to them.
So many have lost hope, but I say to you, chose how you will react.
Life isn't some game you win or lose. Life is a grand adventure meant to be lived and experienced. You can do this from anywhere.
You are not your paycheck.
You are not your job.
You can always start over.
You always have a choice.
You can chose to let circumstances define you or your can chose to rise above them and find new truths.
You can chose to worry or you can chose to live.
No one is guaranteed another minute, embrace life, don't lose hope, chose to be a force for good. Embrace the adventure this life has to offer.
Do not give up!
Most of history was a worst time to be alive than right now, for the average person at least. It just somehow always seems to be fashionable to claim that "things were always better in the good ole days". It's just stupid cliche' bullshit from entitled brats.
One form of depression comes from low serotonin.
The metabolic pathway goes: 5-HTP->Tryptophan->Serotonin
Note that corn-fed stock (chickens, turkey, and such) is lower in tryptophan than free-range stock
Perhaps our modern diet is lower in tryptophan that our bodies are evolved for?
Serotonin (and all other neurotransmitters) are sent from one neuron to another, and then reclaimed. The reclamation process isn't 100% effective, some small amount is lost in the process, but the end result is that the brain doesn't make Serotonin very fast. It doesn't need to, because it expects to lose only a little during reclamation.
(This is the mechanism of SSRI antidepresants: they interfere with the "reuptake" process.)
If you have a job or environment that requires creativity, you may be exercising your Serotonin pathways a lot, leading to low serotonin. This is why the stereotype of "artist" includes dark, moody, and prone to suicide.
Maybe the rise in suicide is due to our fast-paced life that demands more creativity from many workers (such as programmers), while at the same time presenting us with lower Serotonin precursors such as Tryptophan.
Just a thought, probably isn't be true.
It's almost certainly due to the financial downturn and rise of prescription opiates.
Problem is, that also works for your plan. At some point your brain finds out that you're essentially inefficient and that you have the choice to either grin and bear it or get out of the game.
Personally I chose the former. It ain't that bad once you simply don't give a fuck anymore.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
Wrong. The collapse of the American economy was predicted a very long time ago for the exact reasons that make the basis for your societal and economic ideology.
Just to be clear, at the same time there were people predicting a new era of wealth and happiness.
Economics is like that - you can always find someone who correctly predicted something (after the fact).
He needs the middle class. It finally dawned to them that they need someone to buy the crap they produce in China, because it's not producing cheaply that makes you rich, it's selling the cheap crap.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
That largely depends on how you choose to selectively interpret the data.
On the one hand, we have much better contact with the world, and a lot more stuff. Household chores are certainly easier now.
Some people have good healthcare, some would be better off with the town witch from the Middle Ages than what they have now (read, nothing). People today are in a lot more debt than in the past, and so cannot get by without a job for any length of time. They have nowhere to store up food for hard times. In that sense, they are less secure than before (a factor in mental health to be certain).
People tend to have less roots in the community than before (if any). Even Gypsys had more since their whole community moved around with them. Another mental health factor.
Given that SSRIs are known to sometimes (for reasons unknown) cause suicidal ideation where there was none before, and the way we tend to hand those out like candy, I would say those are far more likely than the opiates to be causing a rise in suicide.
I'm currently exploring the theory that a) there are 4 forms of depression, each caused by low levels of one category of neurotransmitter, and b) the first form is caused by low serotonin.
My working theory is that SSRI's sometimes fail because either a) the depression is due to a different transmitter, and/or b) SSRI's won't help if you have little or no serotonin to begin with.
This could be why SSRI's sometimes increase the chances of suicide. The cure would be for the patient to make more serotonin, not to interfere with its proper workings.
Another form of depression is from low dopamine. The two types are similar, but can be distinguished. Serotonin is the "happy" transmitter, and low levels are associated with dark moods and suicide, while dopamine is the "reward" transmitter, so low levels are associated with tiredness, low energy, and the feeling that tasks are pointless.
I suspect that a survey or questionnaire could be used to identify the particular type of depression a person has, and given the results lead to a specific treatment of one of the transmitters.
I'm still researching, but this one proposed mechanism seems to explain a lot of things in the literature. Most notably, that depression appears to be a resource depletion disease.
US: 1-800-273-8255 is a 24/7 suicide prevention hotline, which also advises people dealing with a suicidal loved one or friend.
http://www.suicide.org/interna...
For US active duty military and veterans:
Veteran's Crisis Line:
1800-273-8255
Press 1
or text 838255
confidential chat available at: www.veteranscrisisline.net
Specifically for support of trans* people, http://www.translifeline.org/ has a US hotline number +18775658860 and a Canadian toll-free number +18773306366.
For LGBT teenagers and young adults, http://www.thetrevorproject.or.... They also have a hotline number, 866-488-7386.
If you're a friend or bystander, these are relevant.
Suicide threats on social media:
http://www.suicidepreventionli...
If you're in the US this is a guide to reaching emergency services outside your own area: http://firstaid.about.com/od/c...
Immediate steps you can take: http://www.helpguide.org/artic...
what's your opinion of the idea that a large amount of diagnosed depression is actually just sickness behavior due to chronic inflammation from to dietary or environmental allergens?
SSRI can cause suicides because the way they start to work - it usually takes several weeks for them to begin suppressing the mood part of the depression, but the lack of drive goes away much earlier. Many depressed people, especially younger ones, are only held back from the suicide by the avolition caused by the said depression.
I personally was very lucky - SSRI has worked from day one for me. Although for the first 6 weeks its suppression of my depression was very fragile - as long as nothing triggering it came up I was fine, but if something happened that would hurt my feelings the depression came back in full force. Now, after 5 months, and augmented by a NDRI I just don't give a shit about this kind of stuff anymore.
From my personal experience I also don't think your hypothesis about persons with very low serotonin levels wouldn't be helped with SSRI is wrong. When serotonin levels are low, the sensitivity of serotonin receptors becomes very high, so even a low dose of SSRI can send a person from their depression straight into a hypomania (and yep, that happened to me on the very first day. I was high and giggly on just 25 mg of sertraline, the half of the usual starter dosage).
"It's such a fine line between stupid and clever" -- David St. Hubbins, Spinal Tap
The rise in suicide in women means important people might actually give a shit. Male suicide is our own fault for not smashing the patriarchy or something.
What's terrifying about this approach is that it denies the quality of life issues at the heart of many depression cases. A person can be depressed because of feeling isolated, extreme guilt or unworthiness, having no purpose in life that suits their nature, or some form of emotional trauma. Chemicals will only distract from the actual healing that can only take place by slow, progressive inner work and finding the courage to change their life circumstances. The solution to depression can very often be found *within* the person, not somewhere "out there" in drug form. Drugs will only mask symptoms while the real disease remains festering beneath the surface, waiting for the moment to spring in a sudden ugly rampage that can easily lead to suicide (the real reason people on medications do this).
I speak from experience because I suffered from extreme depression for 20 years, tried desperately to fix it with chemicals, almost killed myself (more than once), and finally said fuck it, I'm figuring this out on my own. Turns out, no chemicals needed. A shitload of courage, faith in myself and my friends/family, and a daily, long-term unwavering persistence did the job. Knowing that you have the ability to fix your own problems goes a long way towards giving you the power to do so. Enforcing the idea that a person is inherently "broken", that they're depressed because their chemicals are out of whack, makes them feel like a victim and offers no real hope for healing. In fact, it's an insult to the human soul.
Life is way more than just a series of chemical reactions.
"Molest me not with this pocket calculator stuff."
- Deep Thought
Sure, there's situational depression, and I'm not sure we've got meds for that. There's also depression that's not about anything, which is something some people just didn't understand, and the meds do well in those cases.
Exactly what does chemical imbalance have to do with feeling broken or like a victim? My heart attack didn't make me feel that way, and the fact that I got excellent treatment and am on meds for it doesn't make me feel like there's no real hope. I really don't think it would have been better to tough it out or something.
Similarly, if I've got a chemical imbalance in my brain, my first impulse is to see if I can get that taken care of somehow or other, not to try to compensate in a half-assed manner. There was still a lot of work I had to do to get out of depression, but I wasn't being held back by my brain chemistry while doing it.
"When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
My vehemence comes from seeing depressed folks prescribed medications when it is not at all clear that they actually need it. And their healing and overall life possibilities are hampered as a result. I have one friend who committed suicide while on meds due to a badly thought-out prescription -- this after months of work on his personal problems and cleaning up his alcoholism.
I did not mean to imply that this is true for everyone, or for you. My apologies if it sounded that way. I'm sure there are valid cases for prescription meds, I'm just against the blanket approach of solving all mental/emotional problems with drugs.
What I mean is, if someone with depression is told by someone with entrusted authority that their mental/emotional problems are due to a physical disruption that cannot be fixed, but only medicated with drugs, it leaves that person feeling dependent on the drug. Their healing is no longer in their own hands. I'm certainly not talking about every case, but I believe folks can heal depression (and other mental health issues) without drugs far more often than is normally realized. It has not to do with "fixing" the problem but giving it the right expression, turning it from enemy to ally. We can learn much from what we cast as abnormal.
"Molest me not with this pocket calculator stuff."
- Deep Thought
The cold, hard fact is that drugs are cheap and talk therapy is expensive, which is why drugs are much easier to get than talk therapy. I'd say that pretty much everyone with serious depression should have talk therapy and be evaluated to see if that person would benefit from the meds. I wasn't clicking with any of the therapists in my HMO, so I went outside and found someone who worked for me. It was pretty expensive, even with partial insurance coverage. I'm fortunate in that my wife and I earn a lot of money, since I was able to afford what I needed.
So, I think we're in general agreement here on the use of meds for depression, although it appears I'd rather err on prescribing something and seeing what happens and you'd err on the opposite side. Also, I don't understand what you really mean by finding a different expression for depression that's actually positive.
I've had other medical conditions I needed help with, such as my heart attack. I don't see my depression any differently. Depression is usually temporary (mine isn't, but I'm managing it pretty well), and it doesn't seem that much different from the last round of antibiotics I had. Certainly a doctor should tell the patient that this is probably temporary.
"When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
You're right about talk therapy being expensive. I consider myself lucky -- I had the right people, teachers, helpers that could see what was going on for me and give me the appropriate advice, hug or kick in the ass, without having to pay through the nose for their services. If only we lived in a more humane society! But then I think human consciousness creates conditions like depression to teach us how to be more collectively humane (pardon the Schopenhauer-ian digression).
Of course it's not like I consider myself "cured" -- but what I mean about making depression positive is to look at it as a teaching ally. What sort of depth does depression give you? How does it make you more able to empathize with others? How has it forced you to become stronger and wiser? That's different from morbidly attaching to depression as your identity, obviously not healthy. But not everything that's good for us pleases us, and I find being fierce with myself about seeing the good in what's going on for me helps a great deal in improving my life.
"Molest me not with this pocket calculator stuff."
- Deep Thought