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Suicide Rates Are Up 30 Percent Since 1999, CDC Says (nbcnews.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the upsetting-trends dept.

New submitter Austerity Empowers writes: Amidst all the name calling and straw man arguments about the overall health of America, sometimes it helps to look at data from people who sacrificed everything based on their perception of reality. Whatever politics you subscribe to, the feeling of hopelessness is evidently real, and frightening. NBC News: "Suicide rates are up by 30 percent across the nation since 1999, federal health officials reported Thursday. And only about half the people who died by suicide had a known mental health condition, even though depression had been thought to be the major cause of suicide, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. While many cases of mental illness may have been diagnosed, the CDC also noted that relationship stress, financial troubles and substance abuse were contributing to the trends."

4 of 478 comments (clear)

  1. Talk about male privilege by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

    According to the CDC more than 3/4 of suicides are men, yet the article makes it all about women. Do you feel privileged yet?

  2. Re:How surprising,... by mentil · · Score: 3, Interesting

    So it's not how rich YOU are, it's how rich your NEIGHBORHOOD is?
    I think that's Exhibit A for why the 1% hoarding the world's wealth won't turn out well for anybody, even themselves. Sure they can lock themselves up in a gated community and try to surround themselves with other affluent people, but they'd have to pretty much avoid all contact with the outside world (TV, internet, newspapers, books, cinema, music, even video games.)

    There's a reason superhero movies are so popular right now, and it's not (just) because Marvel just now figured out how to get their shit together.

    --
    Corruption is convincing someone that the selfless ideal is the same as their selfish ideal.
  3. Re:How surprising,... by AmiMoJo · · Score: 4, Interesting

    People who are born into poverty are used to it and can see that other people somehow cope. When people have been comfortable for their whole lives and then a financial crash hits and end up with nothing, and don't have the mental tools to cope with that loss and uncertainty and angst and anger... That's what causes depression.

    --
    const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
    SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
  4. Re:Hmmm... by CrimsonAvenger · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Let me have a stab at it.

    Life was shit, social mobility was practically non-existent, the poor had to work insanely hard and had no rights while rich people had all the rights and only got richer, and there was basically no social security at all beyond what you and your family could provide. You know, the kind of dystopia we seem to be headed for with the speed of light today? The dream age of every libertard out there.

    And yet, before that peak 110-odd years back, suicide rate was lower than now (roughly comparable to 1999 levels). And afterwards, likewise.

    What changed to cause that peak? What changed to cause that peak to go away?

    --

    "I do not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"