Why is America's suicide epidemic hitting Trump's base so hard?

[applegrove]

Why is America’s suicide epidemic hitting Trump’s base so hard?

 June 19, 2019

By Rajan Menon, Tom Dispatch at Raw Story

https://www.rawstory.com/2019/06/why-is-americas-suicide-epidemic-hitting-trumps-base-so-hard/

"SNIP.....

According to a 2018 Centers for Disease Control study, between 1999 and 2016, the suicide rate increased in every state in the union except Nevada, which already had a remarkably high rate.  In 30 states, it jumped by 25% or more; in 17, by at least a third.  Nationally, it increased 33%.  In some states the upsurge was far higher: North Dakota (57.6%), New Hampshire (48.3%), Kansas (45%), Idaho (43%).

Alas, the news only gets grimmer.

Since 2008, suicide has ranked 10th among the causes of death in this country. For Americans between the ages of 10 and 34, however, it comes in second; for those between 35 and 45, fourth.  The United States also has the ninth-highest rate in the 38-country Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Globally, it ranks 27th.

More importantly, the trend in the United States doesn’t align with what’s happening elsewhere in the developed world. The World Health Organization, for instance, reports that Great Britain, Canada, and China all have notably lower suicide rates than the U.S., as doall but six countries in the European Union. (Japan’s is only slightly lower.)

World Bank statistics show that, worldwide, the suicide rate fell from 12.8 per 100,000 in 2000 to 10.6 in 2016.  It’s been falling in China, Japan(where it has declined steadily for nearly a decade and is at its lowest point in 37 years), most of Europe, and even countries like South Korea and Russia that have a significantly higher suicide rate than the United States. In Russia, for instance, it has dropped by nearly 26% from a high point of 42 per 100,000 in 1994 to 31 in 2019.

......SNIP"

Looks like they'd rather be dead than vote Democratic.

[elleng]

1. A friend wrote: Trump is a symptom of a revolt against the status quo.

'We live at a time of great social turmoil. The populous is not happy . . . .

[Wounded Bear]

2. Partly, it is connected to the drug crisis...

Drug related deaths in "Trump Country" are epidemic. Both drug addiction and suicides are related to depression, and if Trump is your best go to answer to problems, well I can't think you're all that balanced emotionally.

[budkin]

3. I would guess that...

It’s because they put all their faith in him and their personal lives haven’t gotten any better.

[GusBob]

4. I think as public health issue, suicide attempts and completion are endemic across all demographics

For instance, I work in health care for the IHS. Suicide attempts and completion are out of control.

Also, the increase in suicide amongst young folks is increasing as well

These 2 populations are hardly Trumps base.

I think it is increasing across all demographics for a myriad of reasons: financial, drug abuse, and lack of mental health care

In general I don't think endemic health issues can be traced to one political dynamic or another

[roamer65]

5. Symptoms of a dying empire.

You folks ain’t seen nuttin yet.

Social Darwinism at its finest.

[EarnestPutz]

6. This relates to Trump's election "victory" being driven by people who...

....feel that they have little hope of improved lives. From the last two years of the Clinton administration through the last year of Obama's, the national suicide rate is stated here as going up 33%, with the greatest increases in states that he won. What the suicide rate in the four red states named between 2016 and 2020 will be the interesting figures to see. Or even 2021 after Trump loses. Though GusBob's observation about suicide among age groups is also probably true.

[Hugin]

7. Hate kills. n/t