Re: Montana's Suicide Rate Is Highest in the U.S

On 12 Jun 2024 02:30:11 -0300, Mike Spencer
<mds@bogus.nodomain.nowhere> wrote:

Socioeconomic - 1/5 of Montana kids live more than 100% below the
federal poverty level.

>
I understand that's a direct quote but what does it mean?  Makes no
sense to me.

"The Montana Department of Health and Human Services released a report
on the facts and figures of suicide in Montana. They listed the
following reasons in their report: "
==========================

PDF: 10 pages


Updated: March, 2022

Suicide in Montana Facts, Figures, and Formulas for Prevention
...
...
Social factors associated with suicide

Suicidal behavior is associated with a wide variety of social factors,
but correlates most highly with:

Social Isolation (isolation from peers or social relationships that
are troubled)

Social Disorganization (society lacks the regulatory constraints
necessary to control the behavior of its members.)

Downward Social Mobility (socioeconomic)

Rural Residency

Approximately 90% of those who die by suicide have a diagnosable
mental illness.

The most frequent diagnosis is Major Depression

The 2nd most frequent diagnosis is Alcoholism

https://dphhs.mt.gov/assets/suicideprevention/SuicideinMontana.pdf

diagnosable mental illness.

Question here is what 'yardstick' is used to claim this topic.

Alcoholism and Major Depression happens in many other states, and
worldwide.

For instance, "Russian levels of alcohol consumption and suicide are
among the highest in the world."
https://www.jstor.org/stable/3844421

But, are they poor?  It might be so...

"More recently, Kessler et al. (2003) report a higher 12-month
incidence of major depressive disorder among those living in or near
poverty. Adults with serious psychological distress were more likely
to have less than a high school degree (34%) than those without
serious psychological distress (17%)"
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4269256/

Without digging on this topic, I'd say being poor is strongly related.