“Deaths of Despair” has more than doubled in the US over the past 20 years. Hell- Look at from 2014-2021 – in only a 7yr span- the rates skyrocketed. WTF happened in 2014?
I mean on the one hand- depression has FINALLY gotten more attention- and bc so many more “normal” ppl are getting it now, the stigma- while still very much there- isn’t as bad as it was 10 years ago, or 20 years ago, or 30 years ago. The stigma with depression was as bad as say someone being gay back in the 80s. The stigma decreased a lot since 2020 COVID, when all the “normies” were getting “depression.”
from Gabor Mate’s Book-
"Loneliness is as much a risk factor for disease and ill health as smoking 20 cigarettes a day"
-well damn -_-
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I had read about a particularly large spike in the last decade for people under 40, but it was considered to be heavily weighted towards people in their 20s and 30s. Which still includes me for a few more years.
But the funny thing to me was always that deaths of dispair were seperate from suicides. Those still spike in men in their mid 50s. I’ve got 20 more years until I hit that.
I think the lower your opinion of yourself the more risk you are willing to accept, and most people it is so low that they take really awful risks. Part of my recovery is realizing I haven’t been investing in my long term life because even though I’m not that invested in dying, I haven’t been investing in living.
So the death of dispair is just the death of taking too many risks.