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Posted: 11:31 AM- Utah is the most depressed state in the country, according to a national analysis released Wednesday by mental health care advocates.     The report card by Mental Health America was funded by Wyeth Pharmaceuticals and draws together federal health data. Utah ranked 51st for its "depression status," based on national surveys conducted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.     In 2004 and 2005, slightly more than 10 percent of adults and adolescents in Utah reported they had a major depressive episode.     In 2004, Utah reported 377 deaths by suicide. That number, adjusted for...

The release of a recent study that found Utah is the most depressed state in the country is leading to controversial questions about whether there is a correlation between depression and the Mormon faith. Ultimately, the reason behind Utah’s mass depression is unknown. However, Dr. Curtis Canning, a psychiatrist and former president of the Utah Psychiatric Association, believes there is a cultural factor involved, especially with Mormon women who may feel that in order to be a good mother and wife, they “have to put on this mask of perfection. They can’t show their tears, depression or agony.” But Brent...

Organizers scheduled the LDS (Latter-day Saints) Film Festival to coincide with the deal-making Sundance festival. It's interesting timing in light of the question that some Mormon filmmakers are increasingly pondering: How do you make movies about Mormons or for Mormons that will also appeal to people beyond the Jell-O Belt (the self-referential term for Utah and Idaho, home to large Mormon families that consider the colorful gelatin a staple food for dinner and church socials)? Perhaps no one knows the Jell-O Belt rut better than Kurt Hale and Dave Hunter, founders of Orem-based HaleStorm Entertainment. Sort of a Mormon version...

Last fall, my husband's Mormon family invited us over for a potluck. Potlucks are a big deal for Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City, and my in-laws are no exception. Naturally, I wanted to impress them. Naturally, I cracked open The Essential Mormon Cookbook, by Julie Badger Jensen. Unfortunately, no matter where I turned in Jensen's cookbook, I was called to commit atrocities. After flipping past Jell-O recipes that involved suspending melon chunks in a trembling, plutonium-green blob ("Loveable Lime Jell-O"). After skipping everything that called for a can of Campbell’s soup into which meat, noodle or bean was thrown...

Old TestamentHigh Priest Robes At the Beehive Standard Weekly, our Internet analysis tools allow us to see what some people are searching for on search engines such as Google, Yahoo! and the like. Time and again, we see searches for "Mormon Underwear" coming up in our keywords section. There appears to be some appetite for those who are curious as to the undergarment that some Mormon men and women wear.  Rather than the void being filled with some anti-Mormon lunatic or those who might only desire to ridicule, we thought it would be appropriate to give a discrete response...

So what is 'Mormon music' anyway? This debate has been going on for years and it's not likely to end anytime soon, so I thought I'd throw out a few thoughts. Last year, The Faith Centered Music Association added five new song categories to its annual Pearl Awards in a nod to the growing diversity of LDS music — or maybe it was just so I would have a chance of actually winning one. Even among LDS music makers there is always a lot of debate about styles and appropriateness. For example, some artists/producers don't feel comfortable having full drums...

So you're single. An active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Age twenty-something, a college graduate with a successful career. Sounds normal, right? After all, many singles don't even consider marriage until their late 20s, according to national studies about marriage and dating. But not in Utah, where the legend is if you're 27, LDS and not married, you're a menace to society. Members of the LDS Church believe marriage is "ordained of God and that the family is central to the Creator's plan for the eternal destiny of His children," according to "The Family: A...