The favorite anti suicide myth

[_karl61]

The Church likely says that those damn angry apostates, anti-mormons and depressed inactives, are the ones taking all the anti-depressents and making Utah look bad.

I haven't seen "the Church" say that, and I certainly wouldn't say it.

actually you are right: they deny there is a problem all together -

I haven't seen "the Church" deny anything about suicide. I also think you're pigeonholing the issue in a highly insensitive way; you appear more interested in "Church bad" than "Suicide sad." That doesn't mean you are, but your stated opinions here lead to that conclusion.

I was talking about taking anti-depressents.

[Guest]

Duwayne Anderson gave a great talk at a past exmos conference called "Lies, Damn Lies" that deals with this suicide statistic. I highly recommend it; you can download it for free at the exmormon foundation website. He pointed out that if the uber-high Utah suicide rates are all the non-Mormons' fault, then the obvious question we have to ask ourselves is "what is it about Utah that drives so many non-Mormons to kill themselves?" A poignant question, indeed. Hint: it's probably not the weather.

Thanks a lot, CK. Great talk! He also mentions some of the ways those "researchers" twist stats to make them look more favorable. And that thinking that just because something is published in a peer-reviewed journal, it is immaculate. AJE is a peer-reviewed journal, and look what they published.

I was actually wondering about the same thing as Anderson. If you look at the suicide rate for teens with age-apropriate priesthood advancement (and, as pointed out above, the measure is only more or less appropriate for teenagers), it is exactly the same as the national average. So what does it tell us? It either means that there are more risk factors for teens in Utah, and things associated with age-appropriate priesthood advancement compensate for those factors (so that they are more than 3 times less likely to affect them), or that there is something unique about Utah that drives non-mormons and less active Mormons to kill themselves, while there are no special benefits that active LDS young men derive from their participation. Hmmm.

Speaking of the devil, smac is citing that study on MAD right now in the gay Mormon thread. It is being milked rather often, I've noticed.

The Church definitely has a double standard, which was once again pointed out in Anderson's talk and by SWSU. If something bad happens in Utah, the Church has nothing to do with it. If something good happens, on the other hand...

[_LifeOnaPlate]

The Church likely says that those damn angry apostates, anti-mormons and depressed inactives, are the ones taking all the anti-depressents and making Utah look bad.

I haven't seen "the Church" say that, and I certainly wouldn't say it.

actually you are right: they deny there is a problem all together -

I haven't seen "the Church" deny anything about suicide. I also think you're pigeonholing the issue in a highly insensitive way; you appear more interested in "Church bad" than "Suicide sad." That doesn't mean you are, but your stated opinions here lead to that conclusion.

I was talking about taking anti-depressents.

I wonder if religion is the only thing that would lend to the taking of anti-depressants. I hope you aren't overlooking things like medical school advocation in the area, genetically linked disorders, etc. I know it's easier to just blame a religion you don't like, but it isn't altogether accurate, balanced, or well thought-out.

[_LifeOnaPlate]

I also note a stigma attached to anti-depressant medication, overall.