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A comment on Changes in midlife death rates across racial and ethnic groups in the US. Parent comment

Re:Changes in midlife death rates across racial and ethnic g... by vxxzy on Thursday August 16, 2018 @09:28AM (#17774412)
Could it be, at the onset? The decision to take drugs? Where one is suffering from depression or some form of chemical imbalance? Or, could one be prone to risk taking behavior? Is the precursor to risk taking behavior, biochemical?
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Re:Changes in midlife death rates across racial and ethnic g... by WhompingWindows on Thursday August 16, 2018 @09:30AM (#17774428)
I don't know if it's a true "decision" to take drugs for many people. If they have crippling pain due to an injury, they may be prescribed pain medication and then find they can't get off. See my other comment for a scenario.
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Re:Changes in midlife death rates across racial and ethnic g... by prepend on Thursday August 16, 2018 @09:54AM (#17774600)
It’s complex because there are different reasons for addiction.

Prescription rates are very high to support your example [0]

Recreational use is a bit harder, for me at least, to gauge. I found the 2017 global drug survey [1] showing about 2% opium/heroine use among respondents.

[0] https://www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/maps/rxrate-maps.html

[1] https://www.globaldrugsurvey.com/wp-content/themes/globaldru... (I wasn’t very familiar with this source, but I saw 10+ citations including some respectable journals like BMJ, https://www.globaldrugsurvey.com/about-us/methods-and-limita...

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Re:Changes in midlife death rates across racial and ethnic g... by chatmasta on Thursday August 16, 2018 @09:30AM (#17774423)
So we are not responsible for any of our decisions? We’re just slaves to our neurobiology?
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Re:Changes in midlife death rates across racial and ethnic g... by vxxzy on Thursday August 16, 2018 @09:40AM (#17774499)
It's a mix of both. We do have the ability to overcome our neurobiology. It takes rigorous and conscious effort to retrain your neural network - hence why Cognitive Behavioral Therapy can be as effective as Antidepressants.
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