The Rise of Depression in the United States

The Rise of Depression in the U.S.

The Rise of Depression in the U.S.

Depression and divorce are up in the United States 

By Jones William 

Depression Affects All Ages

Depression is a mental health disorder and it’s increasing in the United States. Depression doesn’t just affect the brain, the disorder also has physical and emotional effects. Anyone can be affected, children, adolescents, and adults. Despite being one of the most advanced countries in the world, an estimated 30%  of Americans are currently suffering from depression. When compared to 2015 data, this is an increase of 10%; making it the highest rate of depression ever recorded for Americans. A third of American women are victims of depression, that’s about twice as many as men.  Furthermore, individuals aged 18-35 record are subject to higher rates of depression than other age groups.

Factors Contributing to Increasing Prevalence of Depression

Economic Hardship in America: The middle class in the United States has been steadily shrinking since Ronald Reagan. The promise of a better life than that of your parents had is gone. Many “middle-class” people are maintaining the middle class life style by high credit card debt, and home equity loans. Facing disappointing realities, and suffering from financial stress, depression becomes the order of the day.

Poor community ties and shattered relationships: In the last twenty years  church fellowship and neighborhood activities have dramatically decreased. The COVID-19 pandemic has isolated Americans from their support system. We rarely even say hello to our neighbors. Divorce rates have skyrocketed. As those  human networks disintegrate we as a society are experiencing an increased isolating technology boom. This technology boom, including the use of social media, decreases face-to-face interactions. It is difficult to experience healthy relationships, and normal communication when all interaction between individuals are at a distance or on line. As a result, a sense of belonging, the meaning and purpose of life, and familiar human support systems are lost.

Expectations of Americans are too high: Some experts believe that despite mental health communities and schools having good intentions; promoting unrealistic self-positive expectations can be harmful. Fostering the notion that all Americans “can be anything they want or dream” opens the door, especially for adolescents and young adults, to experience disgrace and disappointment, when the reality of their life fails to match what they had imagined for themselves. Sounds like  a guarantee for misery and depression.

Is it possible to lower depression rates and cases in the U.S.?

The United States government and citizens can do several things at societal levels to curb depression. For instance, meeting the basic needs of citizens and improving their interpersonal relationships and community ties can reduce depression rates and cases.

Nurturing Social Connections: Post pandemic America feels different than pre-COVID America. The current high depression rates are likely to decline as the country moves towards “normalcy” and social networks are revitalized. Since human beings are social beings, social isolation and loneliness can cause mental and physical disorders such as depression, headaches, suicide, anxiety, in addition to many other problems. When people are connected to their country, their community, their friends, and family members, reducing depression is achievable.

Meeting Basic Needs: Increased depression rates from food insecurity and homelessness could be  reduced if our government can find ways to meet its citizen’s basic needs. In colleges and universities, three out of five students have basic needs challenges. They suffer from hunger, homelessness, and lack of affordable healthcare services. There is a direct link between financial stress and depression. Furthermore, individuals suffering from mental illness tend not to seek services because of the expense.

Ensuring Mental Healthcare is Available: Accessing mental healthcare is difficult in many areas of the country. Lack of money and insurance coverage prevents many Americans from getting the needed  mental healthcare services. To make matters worse, in many areas of the United States there are no mental health clinics, practitioners, or hospitals. Government funding for mental health services is sorely lacking and with Medicaid and Affordable Care not being available in many states with Republican governors is a big problem.

Conclusion

Depression is a major health concern in the United States. Men, women, and children can all be victims of mental illness. Depression risks among adolescents and young adults have increased dramatically in recent  decades. The question becomes, will our government ever prioritize the well being of the majority of American citizens over the billionaire class? Until that question can be answered we will live with a patchwork of laws and a failure of services.

Sources

https://www.health.com/depression-rates-higher-than-ever-things-to-change-7501286

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/09/140930132832.htm

https://abc3340.com/news/nation-world/depression-on-the-rise-in-the-us-cdc-says-centers-disease-control-prevention-mental-health

http://www.drrevelmiller.com/2019/09/why-is-depression-so-common-in-the-usa/

OPINION: America, Time To Wake UP

OPINION: America, Time To Wake Up

The U.S. claims it is more entitled to greatness than other nations.

OPINION: America, Time To Wake Up

By I.B. Freely and D. S. Mitchell

Myths

A recent crock of bullshit that has been pedaled is that the U.S. joined the Allies in WWII because of the holocaust. America entering WWII had nothing to do with the holocaust. Almost no one knew what was going on at the time, including several levels of the German government itself.  The only reason America joined, two years after the war started, I might add, was because of the attack on Pearl Harbor.

The American Imagination

The vast majority of fighting by American personnel was in the South Pacific in its war against Japan.  Of the 16 million men and women who served in the U. S. military during WWII, only 2 million went to Europe. For some peculiar reason the war against the Nazis in their snazzy uniforms has taken on a supersized place in the American self-image. I will remind folks it would have been hard to kill Hitler from Guam. Not that it matters much.

Continue reading

Unemployment Numbers Won’t Help In 2020

Unemployment Numbers Won’t Help In 2020

by James Moore

Not Done Yet

The 2018 Midterms are over.  Thank God!  Take a deep breath because the race for the White House starts right about now.  For Trump, this could spell trouble. For the first time in a long while the unemployment numbers were not a factor in the 2018 Midterms and may not be a factor in the 2020 national election.

Unemployment Lie 

The current unemployment numbers as released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics show a low 3.7 percent unemployment rate.  Trump has used this low rate to blow his own horn.  He also claims he has turned the economy around.  It’s a lie.  Keep in mind, the jobless rate has fallen at a consistent clip since January of 2010. Trump knows he inherited an economic turnaround of sorts, but it has always been a modest one at best.  The fact is, full-time jobs just are not what they use to be.  Depending on the definition one uses, there is a serious under-employment problem plaguing the nation.

Under-Employed vs. Unemployed 

There was a time when low unemployment meant most of the working class were working at jobs that paid a livable wage.  Today, many of the new jobs created are nothing more than low paying service jobs that need few skills. American wages still lag where they were before the crash of 2008. Complicate that with the increase cost of health care, the out sourcing of labor overseas, large tax cuts for the 1% without any expectation of them creating real jobs, and the result is millions of Americans do not earn enough money to live on. More workers today are forced to work a second and even a third job, just to pay their bills.  The result is that Americans are working more, have less money to spend, and no time to enjoy what they do make.

Real Numbers 45 Doesn’t Want Us to Know

In 2012, unemployment was at 8.1 percent.  However, when people who were working multiple jobs or who had stopped looking all together were factored in, the under-employment rate rose to 14.7%. * Last year, that rate was down to 12.5% even though unemployment was down to around 4%. ** In 2012, the total number of under-employed Americans was 23.1 million and as recently as 2016, the Chicago Tribune reported nearly half of U.S. workers considered themselves under-employed.

A Third of College Graduates Are Under-Employed

While half of the nation being under employed may seem a bit high, the New York Federal Reserve Bank put under employment for all college graduated American between the ages of 22 and 65 at 33 percent. That figure jumps to 44% for college grads between the ages of 22 and 27 as recently as October of this year.

The Military Industrial Complex 

The truth is, most of the jobs he is creating are in the military industry. Why?  I believe, it is because he wants to create a situation that allows him to go to war; so that our next election will be a referendum for him as a war-time president and against all those unpatriotic Democrats. After all, his wall won’t be built, racism will not be stamped, or in his case stomped, out, and the economy will be lack luster. Low unemployment numbers will not satisfy voters when their full-time jobs are not enough to pay the bills in 2020.

Education Deserves Blame Too 

As a retired teacher, I can tell you our public schools have played a huge role in adding to our under-employment problems.  Despite low unemployment numbers, millions of trades jobs sit unfilled. Schools have sold college as the only answer to a successful life.  This brainwashing of our kids has led to serious problems. Let me repeat, college is not the only or best road to a successful work life.  It is all lies. There are many fine trade jobs that our citizens could be trained for. It’s time we admit that college is not the end-all for every American.

Continue reading

There Is One Born Every Minute

 

There Is One Born Every Minute

Trevor K. McNeil

Is There Really an ‘American Dream’?

The promoted mythology holds that anyone in the United States can achieve greatness through vision, persistence and hard work. Sadly, as Hunter S. Thompson bluntly put it after narrowly losing his run for Sheriff of Pitkin County, Colorado “I,unfortunately proved what I set out to prove … that the American Dream really is f**ked.’

One of the great myths of the ‘American Century’ is that of the ‘Self-Made’ man. Statistics counter that claim, suggesting almost no one born poor in this country ever achieves staggering wealth; and those who do rarely achieve it by ‘hard work’ within the established system. Think lottery.

Donald Trump first hit the national radar during the glitzy big hair days of the 1980’s and 1990’s.  It began slowly, with small mentions in the gossip columns of Palm Beach and New York. By the end of the 90’s Trump had become a staple in New York society columns and the tabloids. In fact, the tabloids and reality TV created the Donald Trump persona we know today.

Everything was over the top for the future president. He had a big airplane with the Trump name emblazoned on its side. He was a billionaire businessman playing himself on a weekly reality TV series. Being seen at the right places with a harem of plastic barbies on his arm came easy and he did it all with a  Gordon Geko-esque swagger (ask your parents).

Continue reading