Re:The undiscovered country: Can suicide be predicted?
by hellbannedguy on Wednesday July 21, 2021 @03:23PM
(#27910854)
I have not done much traveling, but Americans seem to self-medicate more?
Re:The undiscovered country: Can suicide be predicted?
by handrous on Wednesday July 21, 2021 @06:21PM
(#27912926)
We take way less vacation and have far more financial uncertainty and more bills (more complexity and more to keep track of just to get by), so our background level of stress is probably higher on average than in, say, most Western European states.
There may be other reasons that affect it more, but I'd fully expect that to be enough to result in more self-medication, all else being equal.
Re:The undiscovered country: Can suicide be predicted?
by autoexec on Wednesday July 21, 2021 @06:46PM
(#27913121)
Actual medication and healthcare services (especially mental healthcare) are not always affordable or accessible in the US. Recreational drugs are everywhere though, so plenty of people turn to them for whatever degree of relief those drugs can provide.
Sure, I think our rampant overdose problem and drug and alcohol over-use problem in general is a symptom of this. That's one of the reasons the war on drugs is so insidious, it punishes the people already suffering, which makes them suffer more, forcing a downward spiral that is almost impossible to get out of. All from a perceived moral failing.
The US is pretty cruel to its citizens. It's not overtly, in-your-face cruel like historical regimes, but still cruel, none the less.