That's pretty sad. The guy talking right now on the news here in Utah, said the most common cause is depression and borderline personality disorder.

I suppose that goes with the high level of depression here, that makes sense we would be high with suicides too.

I've been in the psych units here in Utah, and it can be really intense. I remember relief society presidents, bishops wife, bishops kids, etc. For me, I had to leave the church or I wouldn't be here today. It took me awhile to figure out why I thought I should be gone, but when it finally hit....tscc was the factor that caused me so much grief.

Anyway, I thought that was an interesting statistic. I will see if I can find a link.

http://www.good4utah.com/news/local-news/new-roads-behavioral-health-creates-culture-for-healing

you have to watch the video to get that stat, for whatever reason it isn't listed.

That's about the same ratio as national opiate and heroin overdoses, for Utah. It's a growing epidemic nationwide.

I wish Utah tbm parents would teach their children that sometimes it's ok to leave mormonism. If something is painful and causes sorrow day after day while participating then it is wrong and it's time to go, even if it occasionally produces a spiritual feeling. Mental health is more important than spirituality.

Why tbm parents can't accept that is beyond me? It seems so simple?

If not for the simple fact that the TBM parents themselves are stuck inside that mold, and nothing else can possibly lead to happiness?

To them that is the only way they know how to find happiness and fulfillment, is inside the cult. That's how brainwashed they've become over a lifetime. What works for them must surely work for their children, and anything else would be a sacrilege.

It's a dysfunction within the entire TBM family in other words that predisposes some to manifest it outwardly as depression, anger, acting out, drug addiction, and for those who give into despair - suicide.

It is a tragedy and an ongoing one, that people aren't getting the right kind of help or treatment they need to improve their mental health and wellness.

It's NOT because they are in a mindfucking cult that makes them feel worthless, sucks out all their self esteem, and creates severely dysfunctional families.

It's the altitude.

The Intermountain West has an overall high suicide rate compared to the rest of the nation. I wrote my APA paper on it for sociology last semester. I've come to the conclusion that mental and emotional health issues compounded with the altitude and the "cowboy up" culture plus lack of resources in the west is what's causing the suicide epidemic. I really don't think it's one single factor, but a combination of these that may vary from person to person. Resilience plays a part as well.

Even though I was being sarcastic, I agree with what you said. There are many factors that combine to make up the statistic. The mormon pressures are one. But the things you mention also contribute. When I lived in Utah and had to deal with three months of those temperature inversions where you can't see the sun and feel like you're living in a smoke stack, it really affected my mental health.

We'd drive from Provo up to Heber just to get above it and see some blue skies for awhile. As you drive down the mountain to go back, you just see it laying in the valley and you kiss the sun goodbye and drive back into it. Very depressing.

And missed the sarcasm! We need a sarcasm font! :)

Yes, one of the last times we were there in the winter, 9 AM looked like 6 PM that day. The inversion was so heavy and it was beyond miserable.

I was really quite fascinated by the findings on this subject. This was one of my references and he did his research up in WY.
https://www.academia.edu/9818285/Suicide_in_the_Intermountain_West_A_Syndemic_in_Park_County_Wyoming

The Santa Ana winds are known to be a contributing factor to the suicide rate in the Rocky Mountain northwest.

In the southeastern region of Idaho it was reported years ago that there's a higher rate there of suicides per national averages. One factor are the winds that sweep up from Santa Ana that affects the barometric pressure, that in turn affects moods including depression.

This is complete nonsense. You posted it several months ago and I went after it then. Apparently time for round 2.

Geography lesson. The Santa Ana winds are in the LA area (named after the santa Ana Mountains) and blow toward the ocean, bringing hot desert air from the Mojave Desert into the LA basin. Idaho is [edit] 900 miles away, and the winds neither blow toward Idaho, or away from Idaho, for that matter. If they were spawned in Idaho, they would blow through UT. They do not.

Finally, differences is barometric pressure cause winds, not the other way around.

So, wrong direction, wrong location, wrong reason.

Suicide rates in the intermountain west are moderately higher than in the rest of the US. There is no clear cause of this, though the fact that the region has low population, and relatively low availability of mental health resources could be related to it. It could have something to do with altitude, though why that would matter is hard to define. I'm not buying your Santa Ana Wind hypothesis At All.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/22/2016 12:37PM by Brother Of Jerry.

It was really sunny yesterday, but freaking cold. We are above the inversion, sort of, where we live, but then we have to drive down into it. We have had storms every few days though which has helped.

I really never thought of the altitude. So I should move somewhere a bit lower? I still suffer from depression and take meds but have not been actively suicidal thank goodness. i'm from Michigan so definite difference in altitude.

Many of the youth suicides here are from gay youth. That says a lot.

If that were a factor, the highest suicide rates in the world would be in the Himalayas.

It's clear to me that pressure creates mental breaks and the intermountain west has a combination of social and economic pressures that easily put marginalized people at risk.

Also, I've had experience with the quality of mental health services in Utah and can compare with California, Oregon and Washington. Washington is the best, Utah the worst.

Utah legislators seem to share the prevailing religion's view that mental health problems, the whole lot, can be best cured by the gospel.

If a non-Mormon person cannot find work, love, support in Utah, has been disowned by family and can't afford to leave, I can totally understand why suicide might seem like the only way out.

If the local protestant religions weren't so afraid of the power of the establishment, they could be advertising as safe places for teens to flee the cruelty of the dominant culture.

You know, like with newborns only it would be "Turn in Your Teen Here"



Kathleen

Both BF and I asked the same question when I started the research.

The people living in the Himalayas and other high altitude areas such as the Andes, acclimated to the low levels of oxygen throughout the thousands of years of humans settling and migrating throughout the world. It's a lot like how those who headed north turned much lighter. We're a very adaptable species.

Because we've been living here for a relatively short period, not everyone has developed the resistance to hypoxia induced depression and other issues. Low level hypoxia can reduce dompamine and serotonin production in some people. Like I stated above, I think the altitude compounds it with the culture and lack of resources. There's no one key issue here, it's a pile of puzzle pieces that fit in a multitude of ways depending on the individual.

I was skeptical, too, when I first heard/read that explanation, but after reading several studies on the subject, I think it really does play a part in mental health issues and suicide for some (even many) in the IW.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/22/2016 04:50PM by Itzpapalotl.

anagrammy Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> If that were a factor, the highest suicide rates
> in the world would be in the Himalayas.
>
> It's clear to me that pressure creates mental
> breaks and the intermountain west has a
> combination of social and economic pressures that
> easily put marginalized people at risk.
>
> Also, I've had experience with the quality of
> mental health services in Utah and can compare
> with California, Oregon and Washington.
> Washington is the best, Utah the worst.
>
> Utah legislators seem to share the prevailing
> religion's view that mental health problems, the
> whole lot, can be best cured by the gospel.
>
> If a non-Mormon person cannot find work, love,
> support in Utah, has been disowned by family and
> can't afford to leave, I can totally understand
> why suicide might seem like the only way out.
>
> If the local protestant religions weren't so
> afraid of the power of the establishment, they
> could be advertising as safe places for teens to
> flee the cruelty of the dominant culture.
>
> You know, like with newborns only it would be
> "Turn in Your Teen Here"
>
>
>
> Kathleen


There are studies that back the high altitude cause.

http://america.aljazeera.com/watch/shows/america-tonight/articles/2015/1/29/why-is-utah-americas-most-depressed-state.html

I am pretty skeptical of blaming the UT inversions for the higher suicide rate. Inversions are in fact way down from what they were in the 1970s and before, though they were just called fog back then, not inversions. I remember inversions back in the 1960s that would go on for over a month sometimes.

The warmer winters have also cut down on inversions, since snow cover in the valley is needed to set up a really strong, long lasting inversion. Last winter we had very little snow. This winter, there is some snow, but frequent storms to blow out the gunk and fog.

Besides, the PNW (Portland-Seattle area) have both longer nights and heavier and more frequent wintertime heavy overcast and rain than SLC, yet don't have elevated suicide rates. The Central Valley region of California has on average dirtier air than UT, with no corresponding rise in suicides, so I don't see any corellation with the amount of particulates either.