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More than a lighthearted look at happiness, a study has found that Minnesotans do well, but that all states could do better.
By Warren Wolfe, Star Tribune
Last update: November 28, 2007 – 11:39 PM
The darkness of winter descends, snow falls and the mercury plummets. Is this a recipe for depression?
Apparently quite the opposite. In a nationwide ranking on depression and suicide rates released Wednesday, most states in the Upper Midwest ranked among the blissfully happy -- or, at least, the least depressed -- in the top 10.
Well, just consider the second stanza of the South Dakota state song, Hail! South Dakota written by DeeCort Hammitt:
Come where the sun shines, And where life's worth your while,
You won't be here long, 'Till you'll wear a smile;
No state's so healthy, And no folk quite so true,
To South Dakota. We all welcome you.
Windtimber, I love that and remember that song well. It was mandatory to learn that in grade school.
Az, thank you SO much for posting that. Often you really have to question surveys, but I honestly believe it's true. We don't have to put up with a lot of hassles here that a lot of areas of the country do. There are still a lot of good, honest people here and our work ethic is second to none.
Even though we have winter and I hate it~~we actually have a lot of days of sunshine and that always helps our moods. Maybe it has something to do with our fresh air and our clean, clear water. OR could it be that we're still considered to have values~the Midwestern values???
You actually brightened my day just by posting that.
Windtimber, I love that and remember that song well. It was mandatory to learn that in grade school.
Az, thank you SO much for posting that. Often you really have to question surveys, but I honestly believe it's true. We don't have to put up with a lot of hassles here that a lot of areas of the country do. There are still a lot of good, honest people here and our work ethic is second to none.
Even though we have winter and I hate it~~we actually have a lot of days of sunshine and that always helps our moods. Maybe it has something to do with our fresh air and our clean, clear water. OR could it be that we're still considered to have values~the Midwestern values???
You actually brightened my day just by posting that.
Jammie:
You must be as old as I am...LOL NoDak, SoDak and now Grade School!!!...
Not that I want to take away any of the thunder our state got out of this, but last night I read something that was very disturbing. It was an article discussing our lack of depression. One of the things the article brought out is the fact that we have a very high suicide rate. Does this mean we're not progressive enough and are still going with the old attitudes of "Just suck it up and move on" or "Get to work and you'll forget about all your troubles"?
It's really weird that this topic came up. Just the other day I was listening to the radio, which i NEVER do, and they said Alaska has the highest suicide rate in the country. Must be all the frigid cold and lack of sunlight for weeks on end. The state with the lowest rate was New York, and of course D.C.
suicidehttp://www.suicidology.org/associations/1045/files/2004statedatapgv1.pdf rate was
According to this South Dakota is 13th highest.
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~we actually have a lot of days of sunshine and that always helps our moods. Maybe it has something to do with our fresh air and our clean, clear water.
OR could it be that we're still considered to have values~the Midwestern values???
