Jim Sharkey wrote:
Which raises the question - how come Salt Lake City rates so poorly? I would have thought that the doctrine would prevent Mormons using anti-depressants, and the community structure should reduce suicide. Has the proportion of Mormons reduced significantly in SLC in recent times?I mean, have you ever seen a sad Jehovah's Witness? :)
Jim
Fwiw, the list I originally got the list of cities from is a "Mormon"-oriented list, and it was posted there originally by someone who formally resigned his membership in the Church a year or two ago.
Some of the responses which it has received there include:
1. SLC proper is <50% LDS, and many of the non-LDS there are young single males who moved there for such things as employment opportunities in construction. People relying solely on such jobs tend to be rather low-income, and there is a strong correlation between low income and depression. The SLC MSA contains the stretch from Utah County to at least Brigham City as well as SLC proper, and, while Utah County (the home of BYU) is indeed considered rather heavily LDS (I don't know the % right off, though), to the north of SLC you have Ogden with Hill AFB and the other government agencies which draw a large number of employees from elsewhere to the area. I don't know if the data were collected for the cities themselves (within the official city limits) or the MSAs, or what. (I wasn't surveyed, but the city limits of Birmingham, AL � tied for #46 on the list � pass through my front yard, so who knows where they would have counted me.)
2. Prescription medication is generally considered acceptable by LDS. Non-LDS anywhere may be more likely to self-medicate with EtOH or other mood-altering substances frowned upon by LDS, either formally or as a folk belief held by some.
3. The suicide stats are based on successful suicides, and the high rate of private firearm ownership in Western states makes the rate of successful suicides, among males at least, higher than it is in other parts of the country where the rate of firearm ownership is lower. According to a cultural anthropologist I know in Utah who I got some of the figures from, the rate of successful suicides in Utah is lower than it is in the surrounding states, although Utah's rate of private firearm ownership is comparable to that in those surrounding states.
------------------------------------------------------- This email (including any attachments) is confidential and copyright. The School makes no warranty about the content of this email. Unless expressly stated, this email does not bind the School and does not necessarily constitute the opinion of the School.
If you have received this email in error, please delete it and notify the sender. -------------------------------------------------------
-- Ronn! :)
IMPORTANT: This email is intended for the use of the individual addressee(s) above and may contain information that is confidential, privileged or unsuitable for overly sensitive persons with low self-esteem, no sense of humo(u)r or irrational religious beliefs (including atheism). � If you are not the intended recipient, any dissemination, distribution or copying of this email is not authorized (either explicitly or implicitly) and constitutes an irritating social faux pas. � Unless the word absquatulation has been used in its correct context somewhere other than in this warning, it does not have any legal or grammatical use and may be ignored. � No animals were harmed in the transmission of this email, although that ugly little yapping dog next door is living on borrowed time, let me tell you. � Those of you with an overwhelming fear of the unknown will be gratified to learn that there is no hidden message revealed by reading this warning backwards, so just ignore that Alert Notice from Microsoft. However, by pouring a complete circle of salt around yourself and your computer you can ensure that no harm befalls you and your pets. � If you have received this email in error, please add some nutmeg and egg whites, whisk and place in a warm oven for 40 minutes.
_______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
