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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.
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.
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!”
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.