What are we doing to ourselves?!
We’ve all known someone who exhibits self destructive behavior. Someone who is bitterly unhappy, mentally struggling or suffering from abuse, mistreatment or worse, hates themselves. The truth is we all suffer some level of self destructive behavior. It is a part of our vast mental matrix, but it most commonly isn’t a noticeable or significant part of it.
Self destructive behavior can come in many forms but for this analysis we will focus on three; Alcohol abuse, Drug abuse and Suicide ideation. Specifically we will look into the self annihilating end product of these conditions; death by alcohol, drugs and suicide.
To the person suffering from these it can seem a kind of remedy or temporary treatment from the slings and arrows of life, except, of course, if they lead to death. None of these ever solve the underlying problem, but most often make them worse. So why do so many take the risk? It is a horrific thing to go through for the sufferer and additionally has a destructive effect on friends, family and loved ones who surround and try to help them.
What if it became more common? More and more part of society as a whole? What if they became pervasive at a rate that we could no longer do anything about them? That our society itself would become self-destructive… self-annihilating.
Our world today is in just such a state. It seems to be drowning in mental strain and despair, and that is changing everything. I don’t believe in Utopia and know a flawed world will always exist. My concern involves the increase of certain destructive behaviors in the world today.
I was curious about a theory I was considering. I knew suicide rates had been climbing but wanted to compare that to other self destructive behaviors. I did some data digging and analyzing using CDC, FBI and various other governmental agency sources. I wanted to simply show the per capita deaths in America due to Alcohol Abuse, Suicide and Drug Overdose, then separate that data by sex, between the year 2000 and 2022. The results were far worse than I feared.
………………………………………………….charts by me
Growth of the Wrong Kind
My first takeaway is that overall, in just over 20 years, we have more than doubled the number of people who die these three ways, 2.5 X, to be closer to the accurate increase. This is astonishing and inexplicable to me and worst of all, it does not look like this growth trajectory is even going to take a breather.
A Note: Per Capita or Per Unit of Population
Before I proceed, as even I found some of the results hard to believe as I gathered them, I want to make clear that this is Per Capita data. Meaning, it is based on Per Unit of Population, in this case Per 100,000 people. Why is this significant? This removes population changes from the equation and analysis. No one can explain away these startling results by using population growth as an excuse. Unfortunately this also makes these numbers and their relentless growth even more terrifying.
War on Drugs?
What War on Drugs? The second thing that jumps right out is the effect on the overall mortality numbers by drug overdoses. The effects of the opioid epidemic across the country are well known but difficult to understand. Sometimes seeing the effects graphically clarifies the understanding and refreshes the outrage. In 2023 alone there were 108,300 deaths from drug overdoses, very little improvement from the previous year’s record breaking 109,680 deaths from overdose. In less than 10 years that is over a million people dead from drugs.
The Inequality of Self Destruction and Self Annihilation
This one will be sensitive, I know, but it is also too obvious to sweep under the rug. Men are suffering horribly out there… they’re dying significantly more than women from these three causes. This must be brought up, for with all the talk about the importance of equality in society today, there is scant consideration given to this horrific inequality needing to be addressed. I may be a bit biased as a man, but just look at this chart! Men are suffering, self-destructing and self-annihilating at 4, 5, or more times the rate of women! Why in the world is this not a top 10 issue in society today?!
Women are Struggling Too
The effort to improve the large male numbers should be to bring them down to at least the female ones, but the chart shows that not only are they growing but that the female numbers are catching up slowly and that is quite a bad thing. Every number on this chart is increasing, on a chart where increasing of any kind is NOT GOOD! Women are in particular showing a significant increase in alcohol related deaths and shocking expansion of drug overdose deaths.
The Trend is No One’s Friend
Finally, let’s look at the Rate of Change and Trend chart. The Rate of Change graph takes the data above it and translates it into a representation of expansion or contraction. The result is not surprising, but also unrelenting. It’s only getting worse. Something snapped around 2010, perhaps a result of the Great Financial Crisis. Then in 2015 there was a jet fuel acceleration in growth of these horrific statistics. I am at a bit of a loss for a catalyst but there is basically nothing good about these numbers or their trajectory.
What to do?!?!
Something has to be done. We can all individually do a little locally, with our children, within our family and community. Through education, community service and even by simply finding the time to talk to someone, or especially LISTEN. Today it is more common to seldom have time for people.
I’m not going to do the usual and blame social media, the internet and tech companies. We interact much less, we almost don’t listen to each other. These were all critical parts of our existence that helped us navigate confusion, distress, anxiety, concerns and all sorts of challenging situations… for thousands of years. Without that ability and opportunity, more and more of us are left stranded on a rickety life raft that is not designed to float across a vast sea filled with waves and creatures ready to devour us.
The problem lies also in the sheer size of it all. Similar to an enemy invasion, I hate to say it, but only a properly functioning government and society can address it in a holistic way. A government that cares about its people and who recognizes the devastation that is occurring. A government that also sincerely wants to do something serious about the problems its society faces, rather than spewing the endless lies, memes, advertisements, op eds and lip service we’ve heard for so many countless decades as people crumble all around us.
Make time. Listen to someone. Every day. As often as you can.
Call your Congressmen and Senators. Write your President. Post your frustration.
Teach your children. Support your family. Be there for your friends.
It is up to all of us… but so far, it’s not looking good.
Renato Passalacqua 