As you would expect, people who commit suicide, intentionally or implicitly by reckless drug and alcohol abuse, are usually depressed and feeling hopeless. A new study published at the National Bureau of Economic Research examines these “deaths of despair”. The US had eperienced a stagnation in lengthening of life expectancy even before the epidemic. And there has been a rise in mental illness over the last couple of decades, although some of that is based on more agressive coding, I think, so suspecting a correlation in mortality rises and mental illness increases seems reasonable. The problem appears most acute among lower income white people, who have endured some economic shocks. If deaths from suicide, drug and alcohol abuse are increasing, are they substituting for deaths from other causes, and if so, which ones? (NBER Paper)
The authors attempt to identify first the actual trends in mental health by population subgroups, and then ascertain whether these changes are in fact linked to changes in various causes of death. The impact on 25 to 54 year-old whites and African-Americans was a specific focus. The authors found that mental health declined for all sub-groups between 1993 and 2019, although not at the same rate. All-cause mortality also increased and was associated with this increase in mental illness, although not always in a statistically significant manner, but the association appears to be strongest for that 25 to 54 year-old group of whites. There also appeared to be a linkage with deaths from suicide and drug and alcohol abuse.
The largest effect was for drug deaths, followed by alcohol, with a smaller effect for suicide. There were also associations with some other causes of death, and it actually appeared the increase in deaths was associated more strongly with other factors than mental illness. What it looks like to me is that people who have drug and alcohol problems or who are depressed are not taking good care of their health and are more likely to skip needed health care. So they become susceptible to all manner of diseases–heart conditions, diabetes, high blood pressure–and the health issues just make them more depressed or use more drugs and alcohol. And there is some evidence that being depressed may hinder the effective functioning of the immune system.
So the causal paths may be multifactorial; not always as simple as a drug or alcohol overdose or suicide, but having mental health issues appears definitely life-shortening.
I just finished the Coddling of the American Mind. It spends quite a bit of time on increases in mental illness in schools. They cite research and tie it to smart phones.
Havin
Having worked the past 3+ years as scientific marketer with a large diagnostic corporation that provides screening tests to many segments that support all types of customers (clinical, treatment courts, addiction and recovery clinics) who’s participants misused or abused illicit substances, I believe your conclusion and comments are spot on.
So the federal government should start a new program . . . I think a lot of this is related to the economy and the need for men to work and be productive. I wonder if the real correlation, if not cause, is the hollowing out of the economy over time and the loss of jobs that typically provided a decent life for working class men. I suspect many mental health issues would be greatly helped by job. Cheap labor, free trade and globalization have had many effects we don’t want to see.