quoting from the NPR article:

"Case: There's not a part of the country that has not been touched by this. We like to make the comparison between Nevada and Utah to look at the extent to which good health behaviors lead to longer life. Two thirds of Utahans are Mormons. They don't drink, they don't smoke, and they don't drink tea or coffee. Two thirds of Nevadans live in Las Vegas paradise, where there is a little more of everything, so the heart disease mortality rates are twice as high in Nevada as they are in Utah.

But both states are [in the] top 10 for deaths of despair. Utah has had a terrifically hard time dealing with the opioid crisis, and suicide rates [are] going up as well. There's a lot of surprise here in parts of the country that we weren't really expecting to see."

Link:
http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2017/03/23/521083335/the-forces-driving-middle-aged-white-peoples-deaths-of-despair

This does not surprise me. All that striving for perfection takes its toll.

Allowing someone else to set your goals is not healthy. The goals are either unattainable or not fulfilling when reached.

As someone I don't like much would say, "Sad. Very sad."

As Mama Cass would say, "You've got to make your own kind of music."

The article basically says it's the fall of quality employment for non credentialed white male workers. When a middle age fellow doesn't quite make it into middle management and gets layed off he ends up as a whopper flopper. There is also falling rates of successful marriages (thankyou feminism) accompanied by failing mental health. Ya I see a lot of those trends around, lots of minorities taking jobs, lots of new Obama jobs in pink collar work, not blue collar work, lots of liberals, rising taxes to pay for feminist entitlements.

Talking about how wonderful and marvelous Utah is, we are the 3rd fastest growing state in the country! Lots of new people just can't wait to get here! I'm so excited. Yay!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_by_population_growth_rate



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/23/2017 05:22PM by poopstone.

What?! You be trollin'.

Here, let me help you clarify your statement: "There is also the falling rate of marriage as more women decide to leave toxic relationships or make the choice to not marry at all (thank you feminism).

I'm sure the above is what you actually meant. A successful marriage is NOT one where one partner feels underappreciated/neglected and the other resentful/bitter. No one deserves that even as the cost of keeping a marriage together. Thougets to consider from me, an Aspie female, to you, an Aspie male.