Posted on 01/14/2024 5:47:43 AM PST by dennisw
A disturbing number of suicides are sweeping America's party-obsessed ski towns, raising the alarm over why so many residents in vacation hotspots are taking their own lives.
Often dubbed the 'paradise paradox' by mental health experts, high-altitude party towns in the Rockies are seeing record numbers of suicides that stand in stark contrast to the picturesque lifestyle they claim to offer.
Factors leading to the rise include the transient way of life on the slopes, financial instability, isolation from cities, and a lack of decent mental healthcare investment from tourism-focused local governments.
As Victoria Mendoza, a 17-year-old resident of Grand Junction, Colorado, put it to NPR in 2018 after seven teenagers killed themselves in her town that year: 'It feels like there's this cloud around our whole valley.'
'I lost five people in 18 months': Chilling mystery behind America's ski town 'Suicide Belt' - and why FOUR out of the six states with highest suicide rates are in the Rockies Ski towns across the Rockies are seeing an alarming surge in suicide rates
The 'paradise paradox' sees party hotspots become sad places to live Experts note transient mountain lifestyles and a lack of services as the cause
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Amen!
Romans 10:11 “ ‘Everyone who believes in him will not be disappointed.’”
We are meant for here.
We AREN’T meant for here,sorry.
Democrats are killing themselves?
Rather considerate of them.
Eventually your party pals start settling down and getting married, and then you’re all alone.
Fentanyl overdoses are now called suicides.
Bar Harbor in summer is like being on fifth avenue except in August.
Like much smaller venues and places. No traffic jams.
As most people on FR realize, the “data” in this article are meaningless. “Occupation”, locale, weather, density, etc., etc., are factoids and no more predictive than phase of the moon. Chance overrides each of these factors. I suspect a controlled study might find weak or no significant correlations. Drugs, alcohol, and prescription medications might be the exception, as well as, previous gestures and attempts. But more likely those would be seen as contributing rather than causing.
As for the “we need more services” - telecommunications has made an host of services and interventions available to people in rural and mountainous areas.
Hardiness and lack of hardiness are possibly significant factors but these would require examining longitude data that is unlikely to be available (https://www.researchgate.net/scientific-contributions/Suzanne-C-Kobasa-35332862?_tp=eyJjb250ZXh0Ijp7ImZpcnN0UGFnZSI6Il9kaXJlY3QiLCJwYWdlIjoiX2RpcmVjdCJ9fQ)
Those who comment about the absence of faith in God, are not wrong - I have found belief in heaven and hell to be much better counterweights and more so than belief in an “afterlife.” Anytime, I can employ a patient’s Christian or Jewish beliefs and background it is immensely helpful. Personally, I not share a catholic view of suicide, but I have never hesitated to seize upon that concept if the patient even fleetingly thinks it might be true.
Perfect!
(Of course.)
Hunter S Thompson: The grandfather of Rocky Mountain suicide. He had everything except the wisdom to love and embrace the non material world. He hated the material world and his writings were famous for attacking it, but through all of that money, drugs, and booze, while being propped up as a cultural novelty, he was left dead inside and incapable of any emotional or spiritual wealth.
Many years ago a friend of mine committed suicide. He was self-made and well-to-do.
He chose a resort area to be the site of his demise.
I grew up in a resort ski town (Tahoe). My experiences prior to social media.
Young women were plowed with alcohol and sexually assaulted and some were raped. It happened every season. The social structure was the same as high school so these women were on their own and ostracized. Hazing was common. There was no support structure for the transient seasonal workers and in the middle of winter there was no where to go.
She would be demolishing social media if she gunned down Spider Sabich today
Kinda like ///Life sucks n then U die // a song
Oh no...that’s terrible! I’m glad your wife was able to finally get in. I hope she’s OK.
Several years ago I was in a small town in Colorado. A local told me they have no banks, no grocery stores, no library, no good schools, no this or that.
But they did have 5 local dispensaries.
Once you have one person taking the plunge, no pun intended, you will have any number who follow. It is the "broken window" but with people rather then buildings.
Colorado is strange about some things. Maybe the West is like this but I don’t know because I have only visited.
Some towns like Buena Vista seem like a place families would live.
Other towns appear to be where all the druggies and alcoholics go.
Yeah, she’s better. Her medications caused her problems and doctors are unable to figure out what’s happening while I can 15 minutes on the internet. Our medical system is so screwed up it’s unbelievable or we just have bad luck. We can’t find a good doctor that’s not indoctrinated. They treat symptoms but not the patient. They never question if the medications they prescribe interact well with one another. They load you down with medications you’ve never taken before (known as poly pharmacia) and never think twice about it. They go full dose instead of let’s start off with smaller doses and see how you react to it. Oh no! And don’t get me started on statins
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