Rising 'Deaths of Despair' Among Lower-Educated, Middle-Aged Whites
Those who cherish life celebrate the fact that around the globe, the death rates are going down for people in mid-life, who live in industrialized countries, regardless of their level of education.
However, there is one glaring, troubling exception.
In the United States, death rates are dramatically increasing among middle-aged, non-Hispanic whites whose highest level of education is a high school diploma or less.
According to "Mortality and Morbidity in the 21st Century," Princeton Professors Anne Case and Angus Deaton report the death rate among this section of society has been rising since the late 1990s, while at the same time the death rate of every other segment of the population has been decreasing.
The numbers are significant. For example, back in 1999 death rates among non-Hispanic middle-aged whites with a high school diploma or less were 30% lower than blacks. Now, they are 30% higher.
Two Reasons:
1. Substance Abuse
2. Overall Poor Health
Case and Deaton attribute the increase in death rates among whites between the ages of 45-54 with a high school diploma or less to two things: what they call "deaths of despair" and a slowdown of progress battling America's top killers: cancer and heart disease.
"Deaths of Despair"
Case and Deaton point to three factors driving up the so-called "Deaths of Despair" mortality rate.
- drugs
- alcohol
- suicide
Opioids, such as prescription painkillers and their chemical cousin, heroin, are influencing American culture today in a way never before seen.
The all-too-common scenario begins with an injury or surgery in which the patient begins taking painkillers. Shortly thereafter, as little as three doses into their prescription, the patient becomes dependent on the highly addictive pain pills. When those drugs are no longer available through a prescription, the addict often turns to heroin, which is cheaper and widely available.
After that, fatal overdose is likely. In fact, opioid overdoses, often categorized as suicides, are so rampant, in 2016 they surpassed fatal car crashes.
Part of the problem is Fentanyl, a heroin-like drug that is often laced into heroin or substituted for heroin. It is more potent and deadlier than heroin. Many users prefer it to heroin as their tolerance for the drug increases. Others don't even know they're injecting it into their bodies, thinking it is heroin.
Case and Deaton suggest the reason these "deaths of despair" are higher among less educated whites than their college-educated counterparts, is because the former are suffering more from bad financial and social hardships.
Fewer are working and fewer are married, which Case and Dean say might explain why higher numbers report greater mental health problems. They suggest distressing personal circumstances are responsible for the increase in poor health, including physical pain.
For instance, the increased stress resulting from dysfunctional relationships and poverty can lead to a myriad of health problems including cancer and heart disease. It can also lead to unhealthy eating patterns, even obesity, which is a risk factor for a number of health issues such as Type 2 Diabetes.
