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Suicide Rates Are Up 30 Percent Since 1999, CDC Says (nbcnews.com)
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."
Why do you think alcohol and drug use is so rampant? It's not the cause, it's an effect.
The world is an MMO, and less people see any point in continuing to play if it's set up so that they can't have any fun at all, much less win.
As a former drug addict I can tell you from first hand experience many drug-heads are suicidal who are too timid to commit real suicide - so they choose the alternative --- drug themselves until they forget their pain
I guess a lot of alcoholics are in similar circumstance as well
Officially those who died of OD or those who drank themselves to death are not counted as suicide --- and they should be
And well below the peak 90 years ago.
Well below where it was 110 years ago, for that matter.
Note that the previous peak corresponded with the beginning of the Great Depression. Not really sure what was happening 110 or so years ago to cause a bounce in suicide rates - it overlapped with WW1, but got started well before then....
"I do not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"
The long-term suicide rate for the U.S. has fluctuated between about 10-14 per 100,000 over the last 40 years. 1999 was just the minimum, which the reporter cherry picked to try to turn this into a story. It's been higher in the past.
Also, suicide rates have been climbing up throughout the world, not just in the U.S. Curiously, homicide rates also stopped the long-term decline around 2010 and started creeping up again. So average global temperature may actually be linked (violence and higher temperatures have been correlated in the past). But nobody really knows for sure why, and anyone who claims they do is just trying to spin the story to fit their preconceptions.
Stupid grinding, but the graphics are incredible!
bickerdyke
That very clearly and unambiguously says that suicide rates are lower among areas that are less poor and/or experiencing less strife.
No need to read between the lines, it is a simple statement that leaves little room for interpretation.
The numbers speak for themselves 42 percent are attributed to a relationship problem. Only 16 percent were financially based - although I wonder how they differentiate. In my neck of the woods, there have been several suicides that were both relationship based as well as financially based. This was in nasty divorce cases where one of the ex-partners was financially decimated.
The point is that if you're really rich and you have to give half your wealth to your ex-wife/husband, you're still fairly rich. If you're just coping financially and have to give half your wealth to your ex-wife/husband, you're then suddenly poor.
To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
Owning stocks does not keep money in circulation. Owning overpriced property does not keep money in circulation. Owning rare artwork does not keep money in circulation. Offshoring profits to tax havens does not keep money in circulation.
The 1% absolutely does hoard their wealth and they've spent the last 40 years using their influence to get laws rewritten to exempt them from taxes so that they can hoard even more while given less than ever back to society.
Sense and enthusiasm are essential for a happy life. In a world transitioning though cyberpunk into post-scarcity faster than any science fiction writer could've ever imagined, sense, meaning and enthusiasm are constantly upended and revised.
These are not easy times. I was suicidal for a bit 6 years back. Luckily I though about what that would do to my daughter and pulled myself out of my rut of over-emphasised self-importance that often is the cause of 1st world depression and went to work to be useful to my loved ones. I bounced back pretty quick and once again these days life is awesome again. Best sex ever, neat job, webdev in high demand and - most importantly - I'm more resilient and prepared for the next slump and emotional downer.
I recommend stoicism as a life philosophy. Get's you though tough times very neatly and helps you focus on the real things. No religion needed.
My 2 cents.
We suffer more in our imagination than in reality. - Seneca
We've spent the last 50 years "deconstructing the pillars of society" that pretty much everyone adhered to up until then. As an engineer, I'm wondering if anyone ever checked to see what they were holding up.
You are partly right.
Owning residential property does not keep money in circulation, but owning stocks does - it's money that can directly be used by the company to buy machinery and hire people to work.
One of the problems Australia has, is that because of certain tax deductions that can be made investing in property (negative gearing, which lets you write renal losses off against your income tax), everyone thinks it's a great idea to buy a second or third property as an "investment" even if it earns less rent than the costs of financing and other expenses.
This is pushing house prices up to stupid levels - average houses now cost more than 12x average income) while at the same time, starving the country inf investment capital, so it's very hard to get a new business up and running - there simply aren't enough people willing to invest in new businesses, instead of property. Likewise, its very hard to get a loan from the bank to start a business - but very easy to get ridiculous oversized loans to buy residential property.
Back to the topic at hand though - I personally think that income level has relatively little to do with happiness. The real problem is when you start to live outside your means, often in an attempt to keep up with the jones's. More than ever before, we are bombarded with images of how we should be living, what the "in crowd" on social media are are doing and how much that rapper guy with all his bitches is doing so great, with his mega yacht and bling..
Is it any wonder it's so hard to keep a realistic perspective on what's needed to live a happy life, and focusing on the important things like eating right, exercising well, and spending time with family and friends instead of plugged in 24/7?
I blame social media.
Douglas Adams wrote for the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy Radio Series (First) About this torture device called the Total Perspective Vortex. Which simply showed your place in the universe. Causing the victim to die a painful death, on realizing how insignificant they are in the perspective of the entire universe.
I expect a similar and much smaller scale effect is happening with access to the internet, and a flood of 24 hour news showing how tiny you are, and how little impact that you are doing to anything is depressing.
Back before all this or when it just started. You could be the big man in your town, the Sports Star, the business owner, the guy with a Masters or a Doctorate. Your society as relatively small, events outside you world were shown in small doses often censored to keep up with your sensibilities. Sure you may get called off to War, but you knew you part of the good guys. There are complex problems, we knew they were "Egg Heads" working on them and their solutions will fix things. But you knew your place in the world, chances are you are doing better then your parents, you have stuff that society says that you should have. You feel good about yourself.
Now being the local expert isn't a big deal, because anyone will google the answer, or watch the real pros play. Local news is mostly limited to the Weather and Traffic. All the problems of the world have half of the people blaming you/your ideals/your life style as the problem. The so called Experts show they don't have as a full grasp as you believed and can only do so much....
For me to find meaning in my life, I often need to cut myself off from the media. just because it is too much.
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
Yeah, but it's pay2win and the griefers are rampant, creating a toxic experience. Looks like a lot of people are abandoning it.