Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I honestly think assessing why Colorado's sucide rate is higher than average is beyond the scope of City-Data. Professionals can't even figure it out, so how can we? Correlation does not prove causation.
RE: the Catholicism in the NE, I am from the NE and I learned to say I was a Protestant, rather than a Lutheran, b/c people actually asked me "what's that"?, as if it were some little practiced religion. But I don't know if it has anything to do with the suicide rate.
This is only my humble opinion, but there is a lot of isolated and open terrain in those states ranking highest. It is easier to find a remote location where a person with suicide plans can reasonably expect to not be found. I have always thought some people seek the remote mountains spots so they won't leave a "mess" for a loved one. The remains of someone were found in the mountains of Colorado, estimated to have been there for two years before a mountain biker came across them. Just more opportunity?
Top 20 Unhappiest Cities; Denver's not on the list!
So... you want to discuss suicide rates in the state of Colorado for some reason? Thanks for bumping up this old thread because it enables me to question the question; Why is the Colorado suicide rate so high? Well let's focus in on Colorado's biggest metro area and compare that to 20 metros across America that have other problems besides suicide rate, shall we?
Denver is in a higher league than all these cities based on a new stat that I find to be very interesting because of all the recent noobs coming in here to slam Colorado: America's Top 10 unhappiest cities! We're gonna look at that; in fact, let's look at the top 20 cities worse than Denver, shall we?
We're not just gonna look at one measly stat like Suicide Rate; let's look at all of these;
7. Las Vegas
(DR) 42
(SR) 1 * OUCH! Oh, but gambling's just a choice, so... It's preventable, right?
(CR) 9
(DvR) 6
(CD) 73
(UR) 9% Wow! Really high rate considering this was once a big attraction!
17. Louisville
(DR) 8
(SR) 24
(CR) 29
(DvR) 1 * OUCH! Maybe we should spend less concern on the pronounciation and more on marriage counseling
(CD) 73
(UR) 7.5%
You know, I understand these stats to be very static and by one or two sources, however reliable they may be.
So the question is; what about Portland, St. Louis, New Orleans, Detroit, Cleveland, Jacksonville, Las Vegas, Nashville-Davidson, Cincinnati, Atlanta Swillwuakee, Sacramento, Pittsburgh, Kansas City, Memphis, Indianapolis, Louisville, Tucson, Minneapolis, and Seattle.
I think Charles is on to something with his 10-second analysis. One of the worst bummers of all is loneliness, and if mixed with alcohol, poverty, poor job prospects, some health or social issues, then some people opt to end it all and check out.
I'd guess that the high Alaska rate includes both the isolation and that the native Eskimo population is prone to excessive alcoholism. Also, 9 of the 10 states are western states. I've been to WV manytimes. It is generally a very poor area, with lously job prospects, despair, alcohol, meth, ignorance, and poor health status, so I don't doubt its up on the list.
The 9 western states are home to many Native American tribes, all of whom handle alcohol poorly and have high rates of diabetes & health problems, meth & drug issues, etc. That could skew the numbers for these 9 states. I'd hazard a guess that the rate in NV reflects the misery of gambling, alcohol and drug addiction found there - people go there for the glitz but it wears off after a while and then becomes a bore, the phony gaiety of the place must seem mocking to the depressed.
I think a lot of it has to do with a lack of self purpose. Most people live their lives the way that looks good are acceptable to others. There are a lot of people in this world who have settled for less than what they are capable of. I have counseled a lot of people over the years and I have found that if you help people create accomplishments in areas of self purpose, they will find a greater meaning for life. However I also believe that there is such a high standard of performance in todays industry and if we do not feel we measure up it affects our manhood or womanhood. This is why we need to find our identity through Christ and not through everybody Else's expectations of us. We always need to remember that there is room for improvements. We are a work in progress. As far as the drug issue goes, I believe it is just a symptom that has turned into an addiction.
Following and building upon the logic of several previous posters, what do all these places have in common? 1) Relatively sparse population density (state-wide)
2) Seasons (specifically at least SOME cold and snow in the winter)
3) Relatively low cosmopolitan makeup
4) Very few or no MAJOR metro areas (meaning, a pop. of around 1 mill. - although that may just be a sub-stat of item 1)
Anything else? Nothing significant that I see. All but the first item may have little or nothing to do with it, but I find that first one to be quite telling, especially when aspects of the other 4 are factored in with it.
It simply tells me that humans living in relative isolation, without regular, real-live-human interaction and other dynamic stimuli, a person MAY suffer a greater risk of developing feelings that lead toward suicide - be that depression, anger, self-absorption, or just losing their grip on reality.
That makes sense to me, since the age-old wisdom of the Bible says that the one isolating himself is likely to fall into a self-pitying pattern and 'against all practical wisdom he will break forth'. (Pr. 18:1 - NWT)
I've absolutely NO INTENTION of turning this into a religious discussion, but whether or not you take any stock in the Bible as God's word, you will no doubt agree that those words do harmonize with the statistics quoted in the original post of this thread. They also seem to be in harmony with everything else we know about suicide which is often preceded by prolonged isolation (note: isolation can also just be a mental state).
The interesting thing to me here is not to determining which region contains more suicide-prone people -- as if having more 'happy' people in our state will give us proof that our own place of residence is somehow better than others' -- but, rather, to confirm how much humans need regular, meaningful social contact in order to maintain their overall health and sanity. Furthermore, all of the other factors mentioned in this thread - alcoholism, drug abuse, apathy, and so on... are often a product of, and definitely exacerbated by, isolation - whether it be literal, or just mental.
Last edited by treedonkey; 04-09-2009 at 02:19 PM..
Following and building upon the logic of several previous posters, what do all these places have in common? 1) Relatively sparse population density (state-wide)
2) Seasons (specifically at least SOME cold and snow in the winter)
3) Relatively low cosmopolitan makeup
4) Very few or no MAJOR metro areas (meaning, a pop. of around 1 mill. - although that may just be a sub-stat of item 1)
Anything else? Nothing significant that I see. All but the first item may have little or nothing to do with it, but I find that first one to be quite telling, especially when aspects of the other 4 are factored in with it.
It simply tells me that humans living in relative isolation, without regular, real-live-human interaction and other dynamic stimuli, a person MAY suffer a greater risk of developing feelings that lead toward suicide - be that depression, anger, self-absorption, or just losing their grip on reality.
That makes sense to me, since the age-old wisdom of the Bible says that the one isolating himself is likely to fall into a self-pitying pattern and 'against all practical wisdom he will break forth'. (Pr. 18:1 - NWT)
I've absolutely NO INTENTION of turning this into a religious discussion, but whether or not you take any stock in the Bible as God's word, you will no doubt agree that those words do harmonize with the statistics quoted in the original post of this thread. They also seem to be in harmony with everything else we know about suicide which is often preceded by prolonged isolation (note: isolation can also just be a mental state).
The interesting thing to me here is not to determining which region contains more suicide-prone people -- as if having more 'happy' people in our state will give us proof that our own place of residence is somehow better than others' -- but, rather, to confirm how much humans need regular, meaningful social contact in order to maintain their overall health and sanity. Furthermore, all of the other factors mentioned in this thread - alcoholism, drug abuse, apathy, and so on... are often a product of, and definitely exacerbated by, isolation - whether it be literal, or just mental.
Sparse population = suicide? I consider that nonsense. There are lots of states with relatively low population density that have low suicide rates. I put the blame for higher suicide rates on other factors. If you look at population statistics in the Western states listed, the common thread is that most people who live in those states live in the sprawled suburban blobs of their metro areas--NOT in the isolated rural areas or small towns. There, too, are an awful lot of people in those blobs who are caught up in the "keep-up-with-the-Joneses" materialistic, hedonistic trip--a lifestyle that can also frequently be pretty shallow and emotionally unfulfilling. Also, a large chunk of those populations are transplants from elsewhere who have moved away from family and community in other locales to relocate to the states listed--they are isolated from their most likely support group. If there is a causal factor, it is probably those three, not the sparser population density of the Western states.
If you look at population statistics in the Western states listed, the common thread is that most people who live in those states live in the sprawled suburban blobs of their metro areas--NOT in the isolated rural areas or small towns.
Did you even look at that list?
1) Alaska
2) Montana
4) New Mexico
5) Wyoming
7) Idaho
8) West Virginia
Exactly which materialistic, hedonisitc, keep-up-with-the-joneses, suburban blobs of their metro areas were you thinking of?
Have you ever been to any one of those places? No offense meant to any of them, but they could hardly be considered 'urban sprawls' or 'suburban blobs'.
Yes, I've been to most of those places--some probably more often than you have. Wyoming has a large population of transient oil and gas field workers, as does parts of Montana and Alaska. Not exactly a particularly emotionally stable group--trust me on that one; I spent enough time around them to know. New Mexico has Albuquerque--a major metro area by my standards, and one that--sadly--has some pretty serious social problems. Idaho (as well as most of the other states you listed--West Virginia excepted) has acquired a very large number of transplants in the last 30 years--many of them Californians looking for their "nirvana" someplace. A lot of them don't find it. In all of those states, the lion's share of the population lives in cities and towns of over 50,000 people. Unlike the Midwest and East, a relatively small percentage live in small towns or rural areas. I have been to West Virginia, but have not spent enough time there to make a comment about it. I stand by my original theory.
Yes, I've been to most of those places--some probably more often than you have. Wyoming has a large population of transient oil and gas field workers, as does parts of Montana and Alaska. Not exactly a particularly emotionally stable group--trust me on that one; I spent enough time around them to know. New Mexico has Albuquerque--a major metro area by my standards, and one that--sadly--has some pretty serious social problems. Idaho (as well as most of the other states you listed--West Virginia excepted) has acquired a very large number of transplants in the last 30 years--many of them Californians looking for their "nirvana" someplace. A lot of them don't find it. In all of those states, the lion's share of the population lives in cities and towns of over 50,000 people. Unlike the Midwest and East, a relatively small percentage live in small towns or rural areas. I have been to West Virginia, but have not spent enough time there to make a comment about it. I stand by my original theory.
There are many factors involved in such a complex psychological subject, so your theory, whatever that is, is as valid as anyone's. Couldn't you could have simply stated your own theory without trying to discredit mine in the process?
At any rate, my point was that relative sparsity of population was the one outstanding commonality amongst ALL those places, so that has must have something to do with it. After all, that list pretty much reads like the inverse of order of pop. density in the US. Of course, taking it state-by-state, county-by-county, and city-by-city would be more telling than any one theory trying to explain the reason for ALL those places having high suicide rates.
So... you want to discuss suicide rates in the state of Colorado for some reason? Thanks for bumping up this old thread because it enables me to question the question; Why is the Colorado suicide rate so high? Well let's focus in on Colorado's biggest metro area and compare that to 20 metros across America that have other problems besides suicide rate, shall we?
Denver is in a higher league than all these cities based on a new stat that I find to be very interesting because of all the recent noobs coming in here to slam Colorado: America's Top 10 unhappiest cities! We're gonna look at that; in fact, let's look at the top 20 cities worse than Denver, shall we?
We're not just gonna look at one measly stat like Suicide Rate; let's look at all of these;
7. Las Vegas
(DR) 42
(SR) 1 * OUCH! Oh, but gambling's just a choice, so... It's preventable, right?
(CR) 9
(DvR) 6
(CD) 73
(UR) 9% Wow! Really high rate considering this was once a big attraction!
17. Louisville
(DR) 8
(SR) 24
(CR) 29
(DvR) 1 * OUCH! Maybe we should spend less concern on the pronounciation and more on marriage counseling
(CD) 73
(UR) 7.5%
You know, I understand these stats to be very static and by one or two sources, however reliable they may be.
So the question is; what about Portland, St. Louis, New Orleans, Detroit, Cleveland, Jacksonville, Las Vegas, Nashville-Davidson, Cincinnati, Atlanta Swillwuakee, Sacramento, Pittsburgh, Kansas City, Memphis, Indianapolis, Louisville, Tucson, Minneapolis, and Seattle.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Top 20 Unhappiest Cities; Denver's not on the list!
