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[entremet]

http://acsh.org/news/2017/03/16/suicides-rural-america-increased-more-40-16-years-11010

Rural America is facing an existential crisis. As cities continue to grow and prosper, small towns are shrinking. That fundamental divide played itself out in the recent presidential election.

Consider this shocking chart produced by the Brookings Institution. It shows that, in 2000, George W. Bush won 2,397 counties (compared to Al Gore's 659), and those counties represented 46% of America's GDP. Fast forward to 2016. Donald Trump won an even larger share: 2,584 counties (compared to Hillary Clinton's 472). Yet, counties that voted for Trump accounted for only 36% of the nation's GDP. Since most Bush counties also voted for Trump, that means -- in a span of just 16 years -- economic productivity shifted by 10 percentage points, away from small town America and toward the big cities.

The trend is clear: Rural America is literally fading away. It shouldn't come as a surprise, therefore, that the opioid overdose epidemic has hit rural states, like Kentucky and West Virginia, especially hard. And the latest research from the CDC also shouldn't come as a surprise: Suicides in rural America (labeled as non-core) have increased over 40% in 16 years.

That's a pretty crazy increase. I wonder if opioids have anything to do with the rise? Do OD's count as suicide, though?

 

[Juice]

When you are born into a comfortable existence and everything tells you that you will and should and deserve to do better than your parents (as they did theirs) and you wind up in abject poverty due to what feels like forces out of your control, you're more likely to vote for a tyrant or get addicted to drugs or kill yourself.

Shocking news.

 

[WedgeX]

Mental health services in rural areas are also sparse due to low county funds and super low density.

When I was in foster care work, my clients would regularly have to drive 45 minutes to an hour to get mental health services.

 

[OnPoint]

To be called "fake news" in 3, 2, 1...

In all seriousness it makes me sad to see people going through such misfortune.

 

[Nomadic Sparks]

When you are born into a comfortable existence and everything tells you that you will and should and deserve to do better than your parents (as they did theirs) and you wind up in abject poverty due to what feels like forces out of your control, you're more likely to vote for a tyrant or get addicted to drugs or kill yourself.

Shocking news.

Mental health services in rural areas are also sparse due to low county funds and super low density.

When I was in foster care work, my clients would regularly have to drive 45 minutes to an hour to get mental health services.

Yeah

being in southeast missouri is more or less like being in the south. Shittiness included

 

[tearsintherain]

The opoid thing is crazy to me, I read recently that with a simple 10 day supply of pain medication (oxy, etc) 20% of users become addicted. Thats fucking insane and future generations are going to harshly judge the pharma and medical industries for so casually prescribing these kind of pain meds.
https://arstechnica.com/science/201...ply-of-opioids-1-in-5-become-long-term-users/

 

[Slo]

I can testify to this being a problem in the small towns that I grew up in. Going back there to visit is pretty depressing.

 

[Ninja Scooter]

Mental health services in rural areas are also sparse due to low county funds and super low density.

When I was in foster care work, my clients would regularly have to drive 45 minutes to an hour to get mental health services.

This. And voting in an administration/party that seems content to cut funding and sweep these problems under the rug is only going to make things worse. The mental health/addiction problem in this country is completely ignored.

 

[Ziltoidia 9]

One thing I hope for some of these areas is, in specific areas, boomers will start to retire and because of the house market being over priced (some areas, again) they will move out to these rural places and help the economies there.

 

[entremet]

Mental health services in rural areas are also sparse due to low county funds and super low density.

When I was in foster care work, my clients would regularly have to drive 45 minutes to an hour to get mental health services.

How were their social networks?

 

[Mutant]

Our economy is fine!

 

[StopMakingSense]

The opoid thing is crazy to me, I read recently that with a simple 10 day supply of pain medication (oxy, etc) 20% of users become addicted. Thats fucking insane and future generations are going to harshly judge the pharma and medical industries for so casually prescribing these kind of pain meds.
https://arstechnica.com/science/201...ply-of-opioids-1-in-5-become-long-term-users/

Yeah, shit is powerful. I would have a rough couple days coming off of my opioids for my joint replacements. You could feel the addiction process starting in real time as you took it.

 

[Slayven]

Isn't Russia suffering the same thing?

 

[j_k_redtail]

These are communities which were built around a way of life (mining, agri, low-skill manufacturing) which no longer exists and an economic model which is unsustainable. The reality is that Trump is not going change that, and looking at his budget proposal, stands to make the situation much worse. So what happens when they realize that?

 

[GoutPatrol]

One thing I hope for some of these areas is, in specific areas, boomers will start to retire and because of the house market being over priced (some areas, again) they will move out to these rural places and help the economies there.

Retiring would lead to more people moving into community homes, the opposite of a rural lifestyle.

 

[teiresias]

They're being told how to move their communities forward and prepare for the future. They'd rather be lied to by their preferred political party than work at the real solution.

 

[Bgamer90]

More mental health facilities in urban/populated areas than rural areas. Not surprised though this is still a sad statistic.

Things are only going to get worse for these rural areas if the significant cuts for scientific/health research go through (which is sadly what many of them supported).

 

[DontBeThatGuy]

It's a really shitty situation, no doubt, and one I only see getting worse.

 

[Abinash117]

Isn't Russia suffering the same thing?

Any country that has prosperous cities are probably facing the same thing. In Russia's case, there are some similar aspects, but for different reasons. The fall of the Soviet Union has done a number to the people which is one of the reasons and some of their problems has been a large issue for years.

 

[entremet]

Retiring would lead to more people moving into community homes, the opposite of a rural lifestyle.

Yeah, older folks need more social connection and access, not less.

Cities are actually great for older people if they can afford them.

For example, I know of an older retired couple in NYC that own their apartment, bought for 40k back in the day, worth God's no what now lol.

They go the symphony, plays, concerts, etc. They're never bored. And they don't need a car, which for much older folks can be liability due to slower reaction times.

 

[Ziltoidia 9]

Retiring would lead to more people moving into community homes, the opposite of a rural lifestyle.

I'm definitely not an economist so I can't predict them. I just slightly noticed a trend around the DFW area, which was seeing a really fast increase in home prices and people movie away from the big cities.

 

[entremet]

I'm definitely not an economist so I can't predict them. I just slightly noticed a trend around the DFW area, which was seeing a really fast increase in home prices and people movie away from the big cities.

DFW is a pretty hot region now.

 

[The Albatross]

Isn't Russia suffering the same thing?

Yes, and China, Japan, and South Korea. I don't have the data, but I bet you'd see similar results in the years following the fall of the Berlin wall.
There seems to be a relationship between places quickly changing, people feeling left behind or unable to cope, and turning to suicide.

The pace of change probably out-paces the rate at which communities can adequately offer social services.

 

[BinaryPork2737]

The opoid thing is crazy to me, I read recently that with a simple 10 day supply of pain medication (oxy, etc) 20% of users become addicted. Thats fucking insane and future generations are going to harshly judge the pharma and medical industries for so casually prescribing these kind of pain meds.
https://arstechnica.com/science/201...ply-of-opioids-1-in-5-become-long-term-users/

Yeah, they're incredibly addictive. It doesn't help that people in our society continue to demonize addicts instead of actually helping them, particularly in areas with low funding for public services.

 

[PeakPointMatrix]

Good thing they're totally not voting against their own self interests so brown people don't succeed.

 

[Trurl]

I believe this as a person living in rural Ohio. In the last 3 1/2 years I've had two people I was close to and two acquaintances commit suicide. I also recently heard about a person that I worked with years ago committing suicide followed by the suicide of that person's father.

I need to get out of here.

 

[Shoeless]

Oh well, I'm sure this will all be a thing of the past once those high paying factory jobs come back, and we switch over to coal again, as promised. The wall keeping illegals out and the increased war on terror should help too. It's especially exciting to think about all the manufacturing that's going to be coming back, and seeing things like Apple products and cars all 100% made in America, just like was promised.

Good thing none of the above are just grandiose lies, otherwise this news would be really depressing.

 

[OniBarubary]

The opiod problem in my hometown was never about suicide and people taking their own lives; the problem was droves of people ODing on it due to addiction or using it recreationally.

As far as the suicide is concerned, if I hadn't left my hometown and stayed here in Boston I would not be alive today as I have 100% no doubt I would've killed myself.

 

[Komatsu]

Upstate New York and Northern Ohio are in pretty bad shape. Stop by and talk to the locals and someone's going to mention that X weeks ago, the son of X was found OD in one of those grimy McDonald's bathroom stalls.

Christopher Caldwell wrote a pretty interesting article on the subject a while back: https://www.firstthings.com/article/2017/04/american-carnage

 

[Nomadic Sparks]

The opoid thing is crazy to me, I read recently that with a simple 10 day supply of pain medication (oxy, etc) 20% of users become addicted. Thats fucking insane and future generations are going to harshly judge the pharma and medical industries for so casually prescribing these kind of pain meds.
https://arstechnica.com/science/201...ply-of-opioids-1-in-5-become-long-term-users/

I started having back issues in 2010 and during that time when I went to the hospital for it and I describe the pain for it, they would prescribe me vicodin, which at first I didn't mind but then like as time went on and I started hearing shit about prescription addiction and it kinda got to me. And then the times I was on vicodin, it either didn't work or I got really sleepy (I was having sleep problems at the same times, so this may have not been coincidence but I was desperate for relief and sleeping was good at the time.) and then as time progressed, I started telling the doctors to not give me vicodin and then they gave me something else I can't remember.) 6+ months later, at spinal surgeon's office, they ask me some questions about why my back is still bad. Both sides were desperate. I kept mentioning that I was hit by a truck when I was in HS (LONG STORY) and the doctor didn't think it was that either. So I finally mentioned my spinal tap I had when I was middle school. The doctor said that was it. The needle that was used must've not been cleaned good enough and that what allowed the excess water in my spine.


Anyway, yeah I'm pretty aware of the opoid problem in small town America.

 

[CassidyIzABeast]

Losing jobs, getting addicted to drugs, and taking your life with the gun you bought to defend yourself from nefarious brown people who never came. Sheesh.

 

[Leynos]

These are communities which were built around a way of life (mining, agri, low-skill manufacturing) which no longer exists and an economic model which is unsustainable. The reality is that Trump is not going change that, and looking at his budget proposal, stands to make the situation much worse. So what happens when they realize that?

They will never realize that; instead, they will demonize "obstructionist" Democrats, and minorities.

 

[Strike]

These are communities which were built around a way of life (mining, agri, low-skill manufacturing) which no longer exists and an economic model which is unsustainable. The reality is that Trump is not going change that, and looking at his budget proposal, stands to make the situation much worse. So what happens when they realize that?

They'll probably still stick to blaming minorities and immigrants and pull the level for R anyway.

 

[Nomadic Sparks]

Oh well, I'm sure this will all be a thing of the past once those high paying factory jobs come back, and we switch over to coal again, as promised. The wall keeping illegals out and the increased war on terror should help too. It's especially exciting to think about all the manufacturing that's going to be coming back, and seeing things like Apple products and cars all 100% made in America, just like was promised.

Good thing none of the above are just grandiose lies, otherwise this news would be really depressing.

The sarcasm of this post illustrates the elitist liberal attitude that small town people hate and that attitude is why democrats can never ever win rural towns.

 

[Skiptastic]

I wonder if those counties also have a higher concentration of veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan, with the suicides that follow.

 

[The Kree]

The sarcasm of this post illustrates the elitist liberal attitude that small town people hate and that attitude is why democrats can never ever win rural towns.

Sarcasm makes stupid people vote Republican? That's a new one.

 

[Magus1234]

Yeah being broke does that.

 

[ClosingADoor]

The victim blaming in this thread is pretty disgusting. Because these people might have voted for Trump, that means we don't have to take suicides serious and can make sarcastic remarks about it?

It's sad that these people feel there is no point to living anymore because of their circumstances and something needs to change about it.

 

[Sunster]

Yea, I think of suicide just driving through the small towns of central Florida on the 301.

 

[Air Zombie Meat]

So this is basically driven by low income\unemployment?

 

[phanphare]

So this is basically driven by low income\unemployment?

that coupled with no optimism for the future and the perception that no one with any power to affect change is listening to their problems

 

[KingV]

One thing I hope for some of these areas is, in specific areas, boomers will start to retire and because of the house market being over priced (some areas, again) they will move out to these rural places and help the economies there.

Many rural states have high property taxes, so are shitty ass places to retire.

 

[LucidMomentum]

that coupled with no optimism for the future and the perception that no one with any power to affect change is listening to their problems

Coupled with a county that puts very little focus on education and health, especially mental health or dealing with substance abuse.

 

[phanphare]

Coupled with a county that puts very little focus on education and health, especially mental health or dealing with substance abuse.

yep for sure, likely due to just not being able to afford a lot of that stuff

 

[BlazinSkatinAxel]

I can testify to this being a problem in the small towns that I grew up in. Going back there to visit is pretty depressing.

Once you go back, you don't come back.

 

[Nomadic Sparks]

The victim blaming in this thread is pretty disgusting. Because these people might have voted for Trump, that means we don't have to take suicides serious and can make sarcastic remarks about it?

It's sad that these people feel there is no point to living anymore because of their circumstances and something needs to change about it.

This is what I had meant to say and but it is said eloquently

 

[Sunster]

yep for sure, likely due to just not being able to afford a lot of that stuff

Not the drug abuse part. Not down South. Towns here will fight tooth and nail against opening one in their borders.

 

[Hickbilly Deluxe]

Sarcasm makes stupid people vote Republican? That's a new one.

No, but attitudes like that are a surefire way to never win them over. But they voted for trump, so fuck'em right?

 

[GoldenEye 007]

If only rural areas would stop voting against their best interests and making preserving outdated social and religious norms at the forefront of their voting concerns.

 

[TaterTots]

My life goal is to save up enough money to purchase my own land and live off it. I want out of all of this.