As we approach the later months of the winter season, how many of you have started to experience the "winter blues"? This feeling, clinically known as seasonal depression, is a mood disorder in which many people have normal mental health throughout most of the year but experience depression symptoms during the winter or even summer months. Upon further research, I came to find that by that 2010, depression is actually the #1 disability throughout the entire world ("SAVE. Suicide Awareness Voices of Education"). Sadly, suicide, the act of taking one's own life, is considered the strongest risk factor of this disorder.
The maps below, from radicalcartography.net, show the comparison between suicide rates among white men compared the suicide rates among white women. To my surprise, according the maps, along with further research, I found that there are four male suicides for every woman suicide in the United States of America. These numbers vary even greater when you look at the locations of the number of deaths as well. A person from the western part of the United States, male or female, is four times as likely to commit suicide than a citizen from the East Coast. But what causes these variations? Throughout my post, I will take you through the risk factors that different parts of America play in determining why suicide is more likely to occur in one geographical area compared another, along with the role that gender plays in this tragedy as well.
Many men do not access the proper therapeutic needs for their mental disorder of depression. They deny vulnerability, preventing them from seeking the proper medical care. In my opinion, this seems to be true. How many guys do you know who express how they truly feel throughout the day? Most males suppress these feelings, keeping it to themselves. Instead of counseling therapy, they tend to use depression medication in order to avoid emotional expression. Divorce, unemployment, social isolation and living alone are also key factors in developing depression symptoms leading to premature death. Due to their inability to adequately express their emotions, men turn to other forms of coping such as drugs and alcohol. Alcoholism and drug addiction, more common in males as well, plays a key role following through with suicidal plans.
According to the maps above and below, the greatest number of male and female suicides combined occur in the West Coast of the United States. There are a many scenarios in which borders come into play in determining why this occurs. According to Suicide: FAQS, firearms are the most common form of suicide ("Suicide: FAQS"). The western part of the United States is known for having more firearms located throughout the house, compared to a home on the East Coast. These states, prominently known for their extensive hunting, have more of a variety of weapons to choose from compared to the east, making it easier to perform such actions. The isolation of the Mid-West and West Coast can drive people into loneliness as well. Spending days, weeks or even months at a time with little human contact can certainly intensify depression, leaving people with a feeling of hopelessness. In sparsely populated areas, people tend to have weaker social support and feel less connected with the community around them. The big cities of the eastern part of the United States, along with California being the west coast's exception, enables citizens to interact with people on a daily basis. Even if one has no friends or family in their area, they are still exposed to the company of others, compared to the Mid-West, where homes and people are far and few between. Due to density population, these population borders are very significant in determining one's mental state of mind. Higher populations throughout an area generally mean lower suicide rates.
The map below, portraying suicide amongst white women, shows a much different number of deaths compared to the map above. While men are four times as likely to die from suicide than women, there are three female suicide attempts for each male attempt. Because women use a less lethal form, such as poison, compared to men who prominently use weapons, females are less likely to succeed in their death ("Suicide: FAQS"). With women using the least brutal way of death possible, this shows the role that gender borders play. Females tend to shy away from guns and knives, while men are attracted to them from as early as childhood. Social networking, lunch dates with friends and emotional expression are women's way of expressing their emotions, helping them to better cope with hard times. This helps to explain why the gender plays such a major role in the tragedy of suicide.
Suicide takes the lives of nearly 30,000 Americans each year and on average, one person dies of suicide every 16.2 minutes ("SAVE. Suicide Awareness Voices of Education"). The borders pertaining to geographical location and gender roles are important in understanding these statistics, along with understanding the histograms connected to the maps above. Everyone is exposed to the dangers of suicide, but one's place of residence and state of personality that their gender exposes, plays a prominent role in suffering from this tragedy.
Sources:
Rankin, Bill. "Suicide." Radical Cartography. N.p.. Web. 09 Feb 2013. <http://www.radicalcartography.net/>.
"SAVE. Suicide Facts." SAVE. Suicide Awareness Voices of Education. N.p.. Web. 09 Feb 2013. <http://www.save.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=home.viewpage&page_id=705d5df4-055b-f1ec-3f66462866fcb4e6>.
"Value Options." Suicide: FAQS. N.p.. Web. 09 Feb 2013. <http://www.valueoptions.com/suicide_prev/html pages/FAQs About Suicide.htm>.
-Kaila Balatgek
These maps are interesting! And Kaila's point about the geographical spread of ruralness and isolation is a good one. It makes me think of the solitary, stoic cowboy figure we've talked about a little (Rooster comes to mind, so does John Grady)-- even though cowboys sometimes traveled in pairs, they are famously not forthcoming about their emotions. Kaila's post makes me wonder if this is a product of the land- did they internalize a more isolated landscape?
ReplyDeleteWe'll also look at these maps later in the semester because Radical Cartographies breaks down suicide by gender *and* by race. When we're reading about life on contemporary Indian reservations, the suicide statistics for Native Americans will be relevant. (Btw, your comments definitely don't need to be as long as this one is!)
-Elizabeth
This post is interesting with the facts of gender and borders that contribute to the tragedy of suicide. I had never known the statistics of men compared to women, and especially not the location influences. It is true that the MidWest is pretty isolated, so it would make sense that people there are more likely to commit the tragic act then in the East.
ReplyDeleteI saw that Kaila mentioned that California has more people to distract them, so does that mean that suicide rates in California are less than the rest of the West? That would be surprising to me since California is where most of the actors and famous people live and work, and with all the pressures they conform to, I am surprised that they do not have a high rate themselves, especially with all of the drug addictions and such that are exposed.
Overall, interesting post!