to me without turning the raw numbers into a percent of population for each time period. The US had a smaller population at the start of the depression than at the start of this recesssion.

If you read the link--I kept it short because it's long and outside of copyright--you will get your answer.


snip-

Indeed, more Americans are killing themselves today than during the Great Depression. Specifically, there were were 123 million Americans in 1930. The maximum suicide rate during the depths of the Great Depression was 22 out of 100,000 Americans. That means that up to 27,060 Americans killed themselves each year.

In contrast, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control reports that 38,364 Americans committed suicide in 2010. In other words, 2010 suicides were approximately 142% of suicides during the depths of the Great Depression. (The suicide rate is lower today than during the Great Depression, but – given that there are more Americans – there are more suicides each year.)

The head of my local county’s mental health services confirmed to me today that there are now more suicides now than during the Great Depression.

-snip


On edit-It's a great article. I wish you had actually read it before smacking me.

given that there are more Americans – there are more suicides each year.

That's right from the article you quoted....

Meaning the whole thing is B.S., it's not even close to being a great article.

I look forward to seeing what you have to say

It remains a great article.

I'll keep an eye out for you too.

And I think it remains a B.S. article.

But ain't this place wonderful in that we can disagree?

Even when one of us is clearly wrong.

the suicide toll is now 142% compared to the numbers of suicides committed during the Great Depression. It takes the data and also does the "per 100,000," comparison.

I mean, yeah, I understand that for some people here, and that may include you, "Because Obama!!!!" is enough to stave off depression (but I suspect many of those people are well fed, haven't been foreclosed, or lost their jobs, or suffered a medical bankruptcy etc.)

For some of us "Because Obama!!!!" is just not enough.

"but – given that there are more Americans – there are more suicides each year" don't you understand? (FTA)

That would mean that the number of suicides per 100,000 is lower today than is was during the depression.

What I have noticed though is that, like most discussion boards, a high post count doesn't always translate into reading comprehension.

More people kill themselves each year, but the suicide rate (eg, suicides per 100 of population, or the percentage, of the population that commits suicide) is lower than it was in the Great Depression.

The population is 2010 was greater than 142% of the population during the Great Depression.

There were 122M+ people in the US in 1930*, compared to over 316M people here now**.

The suicide rate right now is less than half that of the Great Depression (10+/100,000 versus the 22/100,000) using your figures.


*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Depression_in_the_United_States

**http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_the_United_States

In anything involving arithmetic (much less higher math) around here, a good percentage of the folks ain't gonna get it.

since many of them are given to already depressed or anxious people to begin with and 'thoughts of suicide' are a well know side effect

I wonder if they've been keeping a subset of statistics on that.

Thanks for the research idea, NMDem!

it was the first thought that popped into my mind. glad i can cure my 'depressions' with a daily walk and service to others. i rarely feel down, but when i do those two activities do the trick

more people not committing suicide for example. rate is what matters. there are more people going to church today than then although the percentage of churchgoers is lower.

But this is very simple logic.

There are far more suicides in North America each year than there are in Panama. Should we conclude from that things are bad in North America and good in Panama? Or can you see that it is not the absolute number of suicides that is relevant but the RATE at which people are committing suicide?