Depression Talk

With two useless wars in progress and no end in sight, the economy in a mess, health care at an all time low, good guys loosing and bad guys winning, it should not be a suprize to anyone that more Americans are killing themselves. For the first time in a decade, the suicide rates in America have gone up instead of down. The group with the most alarming rise in suicides are middle aged white women, according to a new intesive survey published in the October 21 edition of The American Journal of Preventative Medicine.

Roll Out The Numbers

The leader of the study was Susan P. Baker of Johns Hopkins Bloomburg School of Health. Basically, a lot of numbers were crunched lookiong at American suicides from 1999 -2005. Baker notes right away that although we know the skin color, gender and age of the people who commit suicides, we really don’t know what was the final deciding factor or factors that lead to them killing themselves.

Some specific numbers now, all for the years 1999-2005:

• American suicides rose by 0.7%
• Suicides of middle aged white men rose 2.7%
• Sucides of middle aged white women rose 3.9%

Although shooting yourself continues to be the most popular way of offing yourself, poisioning accounted for 18% of suicides and suffocation or strangulation is becoming more popular, rising grasually in both men and women.

A Particular Instance

I don’t think it should be any big mystery as to why more Americans are killing themselves. Just look at what happened to 90 year old Addie Polk of Akron, Ohio. As her home was being foreclosed upon, she shot herself in the chest. Because someone was right there, Polk got immediate medical care. Eventually, Fannie Mae said, “Ahh, never mind. Let her keep her home.” What’s a 90 year old without any family going to do on the street? It is unknown whether Polk will survive her self-inflicted gunshot wound.

One theory as to why more middle aged white Americans are killing themselves is that they have been raised to expect nothing of the best from themselves and to be a failure is unforgiveable.

What About Native Americans?

There’s a lot of fuss over white American sucides, but there’s never been much fuss about the high rates of suicide among other skin colors, especailly among Native Americans (you know — the ones who should really be in power and have been treated like crap since 1492?). The latest study notes that Asians and Native American sucide rates were “stable”, but Native Americans had the highest sucide rate in America in 1979 - 1992.

No one gave a rat’s ass then. But now it’s white people dying and suddenly mainstream American is concerned.

No wonder we’re depressed! I’m both white and Native American, so I’m my own worst enemy.