A group of middle-aged whites in the U.S. is dying at a startling rate

[Conan]

“Drugs and alcohol, and suicide . . . are clearly the proximate cause,” said Angus Deaton, the 2015 Nobel laureate in economics, who co-authored the paper with his wife, Anne Case. Both are economics professors at Princeton University.
“Half a million people are dead who should not be dead,” he added. “About 40 times the Ebola stats. You’re getting up there with HIV-AIDS.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nati...a63098-8172-11e5-8ba6-cec48b74b2a7_story.html

 

[silentg]

Awful, it is a disease like any other, there sometimes are people who can overcome the addiction but is very hard to do!

 

[pedro47]

Did anyone else watch the 60 Minutes television segment show this passed Sunday on heroin? Heroin is the new epidemic drug sweeping across the middle & upper class population in America.

 

[mclyne]

I am a registered nurse who specialized in psychiatry. In the late 70's and early 80's the trend was to close down psychiatric in- patient hospitals and treat them on an out patient basis. The higher ups felt they could be treated on an out patient basis. We would see them for meetings every 2 weeks where they would pick up their 2 week medication which would carry them through the next 2 weeks. I fought this tooth and nail. I told them we are discharging patients to the care of elderly parents who could not handle them, if a psychological incident arose. What happens when the patient refuses to take his medication? What happens if they do not attend the meetings? They will be walking around with no medication and symptoms will increase. No one listened-- hospitals were torn down, and now most of the violence we see, deaths we hear about all seem to stem from long standing psychological issues which are untreated.Not all psychological problems can be handled on an out patient basis. We need hospitals to care for these people to protect them from themselves and others.
I know I seem to be ranting but this has been a pet peeve of mine for years. I am beginning to hear words like,"psychological problems" turn up. Maybe now someone will listen and address the problem with proper care.

 

[WinniWoman]

I am a registered nurse who specialized in psychiatry. In the late 70's and early 80's the trend was to close down psychiatric in- patient hospitals and treat them on an out patient basis. The higher ups felt they could be treated on an out patient basis. We would see them for meetings every 2 weeks where they would pick up their 2 week medication which would carry them through the next 2 weeks. I fought this tooth and nail. I told them we are discharging patients to the care of elderly parents who could not handle them, if a psychological incident arose. What happens when the patient refuses to take his medication? What happens if they do not attend the meetings? They will be walking around with no medication and symptoms will increase. No one listened-- hospitals were torn down, and now most of the violence we see, deaths we hear about all seem to stem from long standing psychological issues which are untreated.Not all psychological problems can be handled on an out patient basis. We need hospitals to care for these people to protect them from themselves and others.
I know I seem to be ranting but this has been a pet peeve of mine for years. I am beginning to hear words like,"psychological problems" turn up. Maybe now someone will listen and address the problem with proper care.

I agree 100%. These people need to be hospitalized. Closing down facilities was the worst thing that could have ever been done. They are now walking the streets. They are lost. Many are out of control. They need help.

 

[Talent312]

"A group of middle-aged whites..."
... um, doesn't that pretty much describe the demographic of this group? :ignore:
.

 

[bogey21]

“Drugs and alcohol, and suicide . . . are clearly the proximate cause,” ...... “Half a million people are dead who should not be dead,”

This will not be a popular opinion but I believe that drugs and alcohol usage is a matter of environment and will power. In my younger days I used and overused both. One day it came to me that I was self destructing. I immediately flushed my drugs down the toilet and my alcohol down the sink. I quit both "cold turkey". It took a lot of will power at first but as time went on the desire for both totally dissipated. It has been over 40 years now and I could care less about either. Suicide is in a different category and no doubt needs outside intervention.

George

 

[Conan]

The question is what to do about those who can't overcome addiction through willpower.

The graph that accompanies the article shows the comparison death rates for a number of European countries. It's sad that the US, which spends so much on "healthcare" and "criminal justice," has the poorest results.

 

[am1]

This will not be a popular opinion but I believe that drugs and alcohol usage is a matter of environment and will power. In my younger days I used and overused both. One day it came to me that I was self destructing. I immediately flushed my drugs down the toilet and my alcohol down the sink. I quit both "cold turkey". It took a lot of will power at first but as time went on the desire for both totally dissipated. It has been over 40 years now and I could care less about either. Suicide is in a different category and no doubt needs outside intervention.

George

Great story. Thanks for sharing. Hopefully this will help others overcome their addictions.

 

[jackio]

I am a registered nurse who specialized in psychiatry. In the late 70's and early 80's the trend was to close down psychiatric in- patient hospitals and treat them on an out patient basis. The higher ups felt they could be treated on an out patient basis. We would see them for meetings every 2 weeks where they would pick up their 2 week medication which would carry them through the next 2 weeks. I fought this tooth and nail. I told them we are discharging patients to the care of elderly parents who could not handle them, if a psychological incident arose. What happens when the patient refuses to take his medication? What happens if they do not attend the meetings? They will be walking around with no medication and symptoms will increase. No one listened-- hospitals were torn down, and now most of the violence we see, deaths we hear about all seem to stem from long standing psychological issues which are untreated.Not all psychological problems can be handled on an out patient basis. We need hospitals to care for these people to protect them from themselves and others.
I know I seem to be ranting but this has been a pet peeve of mine for years. I am beginning to hear words like,"psychological problems" turn up. Maybe now someone will listen and address the problem with proper care.

Amen to that. We should open up the psychiatric hospitals again. The patients got fed, clothed and medicated. They were not locked up and were much much safer than on the streets. The way they turn them out on to the streets (I live on Long Island too and I'm sure you know which communities they are dumped in) is inhumane.

 

[VegasBella]

I found the original report
http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2....pdf?sid=75826b57-97c1-47c3-b986-2d01ecd18a39

I think it's important to note a few things:

"Although all three educational groups saw increases in mortality from suicide and poisonings, and an overall increase in external cause mortality, increases were largest for those with the least education"

"The epidemic of pain which the opioids were designed to treat is real enough, although the data here cannot establish whether the increase in opioid use or the increase in pain came first. Both increased rapidly after the mid-1990s. Pain prevalence might have been even higher without the drugs, although long-term opioid use may exacerbate pain for some, and consensus on the effectiveness and risks of long-term opioid use has been hampered by lack of research evidence."

"Pain is also a riskfactor for suicide. Increased alcohol abuse and suicides are likely symptoms of the same underlying epidemic and have increased alongside it, both temporally and spatially."

"Although the epidemic of pain, suicide, and drug overdoses preceded the financial crisis, ties to economic insecurity are possible"

And although the paper doesn't mention it, there are likely other possible causes as well, for example in the case of poisonings it's possible that a contributing factor is pharmaceutical mistakes (drug interactions, allergies, etc).
http://www.forbes.com/sites/leahbinder/2013/09/03/the-shocking-truth-about-medication-errors/

Similar to pharmaceutical mistakes (or perhaps a type) is overdoes by acetaminophen: http://pubmedcentralcanada.ca/pmcc/articles/PMC3509295/
which could obviously be caused by pain, but the intervening factor and the ultimate cause of death is that acetaminophen is often added in other medications and it's perceived to be relatively harmless and so accidental overdose is particularly easy.

Without teasing out the specific increases in types of poisonings, types of suicides, and underlying causes of liver cirrhosis we can't really point a finger to pain or the economy or increased availability of opioid etc.

This will not be a popular opinion but I believe that drugs and alcohol usage is a matter of environment and will power. In my younger days I used and overused both. One day it came to me that I was self destructing. I immediately flushed my drugs down the toilet and my alcohol down the sink. I quit both "cold turkey". It took a lot of will power at first but as time went on the desire for both totally dissipated. It has been over 40 years now and I could care less about either. Suicide is in a different category and no doubt needs outside intervention.

George

Well, most addicts do quit on their own. It's really just a matter of time. Either they die from overdose or they quit on their own. Very few people are actually lifetime drug addicts.

Furthermore, they often do it on their own. Without intervention. And there are a number of studies that suggest they will basically do anything else so long as they really have other opportunities. Most addicts aren't significantly helped by hospitals or 12 step programs or medication, they're helped by the simple things like a decent job, loved ones, and something to live for.

see:
http://www.substance.com/most-peopl...ow-out-of-it-why-is-this-widely-denied/13017/
and
https://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/200407/the-surprising-truth-about-addiction

Amen to that. We should open up the psychiatric hospitals again. The patients got fed, clothed and medicated. They were not locked up and were much much safer than on the streets. The way they turn them out on to the streets (I live on Long Island too and I'm sure you know which communities they are dumped in) is inhumane.

See above.

Also, a gun in the home is the strongest predictor of suicide. So statistically speaking, if we could reduce gun ownership then we could cut the suicide numbers dramatically. Getting guns out of people's homes would do far more to prevent suicide that reopening mental hospitals.

see http://www.bradycampaign.org/sites/default/files/TruthAboutSuicideGuns.pdf
and
http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/ar...or-is-strongest-predictor-of-death-by-suicide

 

[vacationhopeful]

VegasBella,

Your post above was very informative ... one of your best. I found it informative for a problem with many "pieces" to the pie.

Thank you for taking the time to put it together!

 

[JudyS]

.... In the late 70's and early 80's the trend was to close down psychiatric in- patient hospitals and treat them on an out patient basis. ....No one listened-- hospitals were torn down....

This is an issue I have been following for many years. Psychiatric hospitals were very expensive. That is the main reason they were torn down. (Initially, a lot of patients' families supported the move to deinstitutionalize patients, because families were told their loved ones would still receive care, just in a "less restrictive" environment. Most of this new care never materialized.)

Great story. Thanks for sharing. Hopefully this will help others overcome their addictions.

If spending 30 seconds reading a web post could cure addiction, no one would be addicted.

Genetics play a large role in addiction. Some people are just more susceptible to addiction that others. Also, there are a lot of people with untreated mental illness who turn to alcohol and/or drugs to try to treat the mental illness.

I have a PhD in psychology, and I'm currently writing a biography of Michael Jackson. He was a prime example of someone who turned to drugs due to untreated mental health problems. (In his case, the problems were obsessive-compulsive disorder and an extreme fear of being approached sexually.)

In most situations where a person has untreated mental illness and turns to drugs, it's because the person can't afford treatment. (If someone is mentally ill, it's hard to get a good job with insurance, and even applying for Medicaid may be too confusing.)

Michael Jackson, of course, had plenty of money to pay for treatment. His reasons for not seeing a psychiatrist were unusual. (Of course, just about everything about Michael Jackson was unusual, starting with his talent.) He had been raised in a religion that was opposed to psychiatry, and came from a background (working-class African-American) where seeing a psychiatrist was heavily stigmatized. Then, he married a woman, Lisa-Marie Presley, who belonged to a religion (Scientology) that *really* hates psychiatry. In fact, Lisa-Marie Presley testified before Congress about how (supposedly) evil psychiatry is.

 

[ondeadlin]

"A group of middle-aged whites..."
... um, doesn't that pretty much describe the demographic of this group? :ignore:
.

You're being way, way generous describing TUG's audience as middle-aged.

 

[ondeadlin]

Getting guns out of people's homes would do far more to prevent suicide that reopening mental hospitals.

Indeed, but this is a fact many Americans are absolutely unwilling to embrace.

 

[JudyS]

VegasBella,

Your post above was very informative ... one of your best. I found it informative for a problem with many "pieces" to the pie.

Thank you for taking the time to put it together!

I found it very informative, too. VegasBella, do you do work in this area for a living?

By the way, I don't see any contradiction between my claim that addiction has strong genetic causes, and VegasBella's claim that most addicts aren't addicts for their whole life. Many illnesses with strong genetic components (allergies, for example) come and go in response to environmental factors.

 

[pedro47]

You're being way, way generous describing TUG's audience as middle-aged.

I do not wish to be middle - age again living in this time period. You can cause a person middle - age and they will not fight you. They will shot you.

 

[am1]

Someone writing their story is not going to hurt. I do not know what is going to help someone or not but with millions suffering from this issue there may just be one person that a personal account helps. It really is that easy. No need to be a hater.

Michael Jackson had a lot more problems then what you speak about. It seems he did a lot of bad things to innocent people.

This is an issue I have been following for many years. Psychiatric hospitals were very expensive. That is the main reason they were torn down. (Initially, a lot of patients' families supported the move to deinstitutionalize patients, because families were told their loved ones would still receive care, just in a "less restrictive" environment. Most of this new care never materialized.)

If spending 30 seconds reading a web post could cure addiction, no one would be addicted.

Genetics play a large role in addiction. Some people are just more susceptible to addiction that others. Also, there are a lot of people with untreated mental illness who turn to alcohol and/or drugs to try to treat the mental illness.

I have a PhD in psychology, and I'm currently writing a biography of Michael Jackson. He was a prime example of someone who turned to drugs due to untreated mental health problems. (In his case, the problems were obsessive-compulsive disorder and an extreme fear of being approached sexually.)

In most situations where a person has untreated mental illness and turns to drugs, it's because the person can't afford treatment. (If someone is mentally ill, it's hard to get a good job with insurance, and even applying for Medicaid may be too confusing.)

Michael Jackson, of course, had plenty of money to pay for treatment. His reasons for not seeing a psychiatrist were unusual. (Of course, just about everything about Michael Jackson was unusual, starting with his talent.) He had been raised in a religion that was opposed to psychiatry, and came from a background (working-class African-American) where seeing a psychiatrist was heavily stigmatized. Then, he married a woman, Lisa-Marie Presley, who belonged to a religion (Scientology) that *really* hates psychiatry. In fact, Lisa-Marie Presley testified before Congress about how (supposedly) evil psychiatry is.

 

[JudyS]

Someone writing their story is not going to hurt. I do not know what is going to help someone or not but with millions suffering from this issue there may just be one person that a personal account helps. It really is that easy. No need to be a hater.

It's perfectly fine for George to write his story. But, I think many people find it much harder to overcome addiction than he did. I don't want anyone to think that addiction is something that can easily be overcome by just spending 30 seconds reading a web post.

And, I really don't hate anyone.

Michael Jackson had a lot more problems then what you speak about. It seems he did a lot of bad things to innocent people.

People have very, very strong opinions on this subject. There are millions of people who are 100% convinced he was guilty, and millions of people who are 100% convinced he was innocent. I will definitely discuss the molestation allegations in my biography, but I can't prove anything, either way.

 

[JudyS]

Something I forgot to mention in my last post -- with certain drugs, it is very dangerous to go "cold turkey" and stop the drug suddenly. Benzodiazepines are particularly nasty this way. They are prescribed for all sorts of things and people often don't think of them as dangerous, but they can cause fatal seizures if stopped suddenly. (Valium, Xanax, and a whole bunch of other sedating drugs are benzodiazepines.)

 

[Maple_Leaf]

What's going on?

This is a uniquely American problem that is happening with middle-aged white Americans. Not blacks, young people, seniors or Canadians. What's going on here?

 

[T-Dot-Traveller]

This is a uniquely American problem that is happening with middle-aged white Americans. Not blacks, young people, seniors or Canadians. What's going on here?

And this is a good reason why the new Canadian Prime Minister plans to re-establish the long form census . Trends like this best show up when you have good data over a long time .
And - you never know who might need the data . If a US researcher can use
Canadian data as the " control " norm - it helps our biggest trading partner
and is a win win as it also helps all our governments and societies keep more of us alive and healthy and living productive lives .
Good for family values as well

Just a thought to chew on.