Let me propose that much of what we "know" about accidental and intentional deaths of women is wrong.
An event on the remotest fringe of the ERJ family sent me down a rabbit-hole and this is where I ended up.
The picture nearly everybody has of the typical suicide is of an anxiety-ridden teen-aged girl. I propose that we should be visualizing an isolated woman in her late-30s.
Data enrichment
One problem with the data in studying "suicide" is that the data is distorted by the stigma around that cause of death. For instance, Catholics long taught that people who died by their own hand could not go to heaven. Another issue is that many life insurance policies have riders that nullify the policy if the cause-of-death is suicide. Then there is the pain-and-guilt that burdens the family. Consequently, medical examiners in many areas are loath to list suicide as the cause-of-death.
One work-around is to study deaths by intentional self-harm AND "accidental deaths" that align with common methods of suicides (i.e. falls, poisoning and so on). Partial justification for the methodology is that people experiencing depression and being overwhelmed have more accidents due to lack of cognitive energy or capacity to judge and avoid risks. Whether the accident was intentional or unintentional is less important than that many of them originate from the same base causes.
All data from the CDC Wonder site for the five years 2016-through-2020 inclusive, ages 10-through-64, women, causes of death non-transportation accidents and intentional self-harm.
 |
| While the 35-39 age group does not have the absolute highest death-rate it is a local maxima and the next maxima could be attributed to peak-menopause years. |
Sifting by state:
 |
| Top ten states and bottom-ten states by death-rate in 35-to-39 year-old women due to accidental, non-transportion and self-harm deaths. |
If you are a 37 year-old woman, you are FIVE-TIMES more likely to die due to a non-traffic accident or self-harm if you live in West Virginia than if you live in California.
Causes of death
 |
| Cause-of-death, cumulative. AP = Accidental Poisoning |
Given the huge, lop-sided death-rates and the heavy weighting toward narcotics and "unspecified", one would not be crazy to wonder if some of the differences were due to predatory, targeted marketing of drugs like OxyContin by Big Pharma. But that could never happen, could it?
And if it were due to predatory marketing by Big Pharma, then it really isn't an accidental death.
I wonder how complete and accurate the data is...
ReplyDeleteCalifornia is one of the states not reporting full crime statistics despite federal laws requiring them to; suggests they may not be completely reporting other statistics as well.
Rumor is that it is kind of hard to hide a dead body. It has to get explained away somehow.
DeleteWashington DC is an interesting case. They had HUGE Accidental Poisoning rates mortality rates for women but they are in their fifties not late thirties. Difference in marketing strategy?
Your comment about withholding data is now across-the-board. The latest year for published data is 2020 and it is now almost the end of 2023.
Kinda makes me wonder if the people that run big pharma, and the medical establishment that does their street-work, have a per body minimum profit goal. ---ken .
ReplyDeleteAlways planned to write a book on all the suicides I have responded to.
ReplyDeleteMy last year I had 2, 49 year old divorced female 3 kids. Gives her 10 year old the key to the house when she drops him off to school.
Tells him he is the man of the house now, to walk home and let himself in.
He finds her hanging in the garage, calls 911. Dispatcher had him wait outside.
I never seemed to have the right words in those cases, while I sat with him in my car waiting for his dad, the cororner etc.As you walked into the house there was her high school picture, you could see the depression on her even then.
I have to wonder how much she hated her kid that she not only killed herself but orchestrated the way her dead carcass was discovered.
DeleteThe family who owned the house we now own had a son commit suicide. No, not in the house, or I'd have never bought it. At college, while on the phone to his mother. I've often wondered if he really hated his mom so much.
ERJ, I wonder if accidental poisoning include drug related deaths due to exposures which were not intended (I am thinking the sort of "Overpower-Fentanyl" death.
ReplyDeleteI do not know that I buy the argument that people who are depressed/ inclined to suicide are less careful. I have a bit of knowledge personally about this, and "careless" is not the same as "self harm". I would argue it is a choice made self consciously (although emotions are obviously involved).
Standard comment here for those that may find themselves in this position: The world is better with you in it than not. There are plenty of resources available; my e-mail is tbeucail@protonmail.com if someone needs to talk.
That is very kind of you to offer to help others. I bet you are a great neighbor. ---ken
DeleteModern Western middle-aged women who were sold a bill of goods by feminism finally wise-up and realize they wasted their lives, one way or another. Or that life isn't fair, and happiness is not guaranteed unless you develop the right attitude and appreciate the right things.
ReplyDeleteIn ER medicine females are far more likely to be admitted for attempted suicide than men. Men tend to succeed at a much higher percentage. Many women who do die by their own hand didn't actually want to die. They were engaging in a dramatic act seeking attention and said act went to far and they died. Getting accurate statistics regarding self harm and suicide is an extremely difficult task for numerous reasons and medical documentation is one of them. The current methodology doesn't call an overdose an overdose. It's called an "Ingestion error".
ReplyDelete