Why is the Colorado suicide rate so high? (Denver, Colorado Springs: sales, home sales)

[suzco]

In today's Colorado Springs Gazette, an article reporting that Colorado Springs has the second highest suicide rate among 54 major U.S. cities.

Springs suicide rate is No. 2 among 54 major U.S. cities | among, rate, residents : Gazette.com

. . .
Only Las Vegas has a higher suicide rate among the largest 54 urban areas in the U.S., according to a 2007 report by the National Association of County & City Health Officials. And while Las Vegas and the cities with the third- and fourth-highest suicide rates have the country's highest death rates overall, Colorado Springs is one of the lowest in that category. . .

[jazzlover]

At the risk of a flame war, I'll beat this dead horse a little more. My personal theory of why the suicide rate is so high in Colorado Springs:

a) Growth. People hate to hear this, but fast-growing areas can be not very happy places for a lot of people. Lack of community, lack of social structure, and turmoil in job markets can be highly stressful. Some of the new people who show up are desperately looking for happiness in a new place. If they don't find it, well . . .

b) Military. It's tough to be a military family. Often, those folks are living near the poverty line, while at least one member of the family is subject to a call to duty that may separate him or her from his family for months or a year or more on end. Combine that with a not particularly cheap cost-of-living in Colorado Springs, and there can be a lot of stress on the family members left behind when Mommy or Daddy heads overseas.

c) Transience. Both growth and the military presence mean a lot of people are moving in and out of Colorado Springs. That itself can be a big stress factor for some people.

Make no mistake, I still consider Colorado Springs one of Colorado's prettiest cities. But, I have spent a lot of time there in the last 40 years or so, and I know a lot of people who either grew up there or who live there--and from that I have never gotten a particularly happy "vibe" about the place, especially when I compare it to many other Colorado locales. I've never quite been able to figure that out, but--to me--it is quite noticeable.

[Bideshi]

Originally Posted by jazzlover

I have never gotten a particularly happy "vibe" about the place,

No worries! When we get there and get settled in we'll make brightening things up a priority.

[Vision67]

Originally Posted by suzco

In today's Colorado Springs Gazette, an article reporting that Colorado Springs has the second highest suicide rate among 54 major U.S. cities.

Springs suicide rate is No. 2 among 54 major U.S. cities | among, rate, residents : Gazette.com

In 2004, the year measured in the report, 121 people died by suicide in El Paso County, according to the El Paso County Department of Health and Environment. That number dropped to 69 in 2006.

Between about 2001 and 2003, Colorado Springs lost 10,000 high tech jobs. Perhaps that had an influence.

[rgb123]

Originally Posted by jazzlover

At the risk of a flame war, I'll beat this dead horse a little more. My personal theory of why the suicide rate is so high in Colorado Springs:

a) Growth. People hate to hear this, but fast-growing areas can be not very happy places for a lot of people. Lack of community, lack of social structure, and turmoil in job markets can be highly stressful. Some of the new people who show up are desperately looking for happiness in a new place. If they don't find it, well . . .

b) Military. It's tough to be a military family. Often, those folks are living near the poverty line, while at least one member of the family is subject to a call to duty that may separate him or her from his family for months or a year or more on end. Combine that with a not particularly cheap cost-of-living in Colorado Springs, and there can be a lot of stress on the family members left behind when Mommy or Daddy heads overseas.

c) Transience. Both growth and the military presence mean a lot of people are moving in and out of Colorado Springs. That itself can be a big stress factor for some people.

Make no mistake, I still consider Colorado Springs one of Colorado's prettiest cities. But, I have spent a lot of time there in the last 40 years or so, and I know a lot of people who either grew up there or who live there--and from that I have never gotten a particularly happy "vibe" about the place, especially when I compare it to many other Colorado locales. I've never quite been able to figure that out, but--to me--it is quite noticeable.

I'm sorry but that just does not add up, because you just described places like California and NewYork and Hawaii and Florida as well. California and Florida should be especially suicidal under those terms.

[ryanek9freak]

[mod cut/inappropriate]
Make no mistake, and i may get flamed for this, but I have no mercy for the weak minded. A sane individual can recognize when things aren't right, and take steps to correct it, I.E. therapy, medication, church groups, etc.''

Do I feel lonely and alone in COS since my move? Sure I do, but I know it's only temporary, as I make friends easily. I'm not considering suicide over it.

[livecontent]

Suicide is high in Colorado because:

1. There are more christians and they believe in the here after, heaven and all those dreams--and they want to get there faster, and

2. There are more high places to jump to your afterlife, and

3. Big Mash viewers that got the subliminal message:

"...Cause suicide is painless
it brings on many changes
and I can take or leave it if I please.
...and you can do the same thing if you please..."

For us, we know that here and now, is the only time and place to
Livecontent

[Bob from down south]

Behind every good man with a pistol in his mouth, there's a woman...

[rgb123]

Originally Posted by livecontent

Suicide is high in Colorado because:

1. There are more christians and they believe in the here after, heaven and all those dreams--and they want to get there faster, and

2. There are more high places to jump to your afterlife, and

3. Big Mash viewers that got the subliminal message:

"...Cause suicide is painless
it brings on many changes
and I can take or leave it if I please.
...and you can do the same thing if you please..."

For us, we know that here and now, is the only time and place to
Livecontent

Christians beleive that suicide is a sin, and it won't get you to heaven. That is really absurd. Maybe suicide bombers believe that, but they believe something else, a different religion. I'm pretty sure you are joking but.....

[TaraMoon]

Originally Posted by brightdoglover

I do think California's reputation for being FrootLoops is mostly derived from people who move there, looking to be new people. Like from New Jersey.
I did read that the per capital therapist/client ratio in California is higher than most places. I assume that means coastal/L.A./Bay area. Lots of disappointments in paradise, however you define it.

I lived in California for several decades (moved there to go to grad school and stayed). I met very few native Californians. While it's definitely true that many people move there are trying to find Paradise, I think that's a motivating factor in moving anywhere. After all, people don't move to find some place worse than where they're living. They either move to get away from something or to find something better. California is a huge state. Far northern California and the Los Angeles area are like two different planets and both are very different from non-coastal California. The San Francisco Bay area is different from those places.

I suspect that the high therapist/client ratio in California is not due to an out-of-proportion dissatisfaction with life but, rather, with a Southern California (LA area) peculiarity known as "sharing". There's this strange dichotomy: you can live on the same block for 10 years and never know your neighbors, yet if you sit down next to a stranger at a party, s/he will tell you outrageously intimate details about their personal life. I experienced people telling me things I wouldn't have told a priest (if I were Catholic, which I'm not). So compulsive is this Southern California desire to "share", that I suspect many people are willing to pay someone to listen. Here in the midwest, where we have real bars, rather than juice bars, people feeling the socially unacceptable need to "share" (which is different from gossiping about someone else), get roaring drunk and spill their guts to the bartender or the drunken person sitting next to them. Either way, it costs money.