According to a recent study, middle-aged Black and Native Americans are more likely than white people to experience “deaths of despair.”
Initially, white people had a higher rate of suicide, drug overdoses, and alcoholic liver disease fatalities.
However, a recent investigation found that over the last ten years, the number of black and Native American fatalities from despair has increased dramatically.
Researchers discovered that between 2013 and 2022, the rate of Black American fatalities from despair tripled, from 36 deaths per 100,000 people to approximately 104 deaths per 100,000 people.
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Deaths of Despair
That compares to a slightly higher rate of roughly 103 fatalities per 100,000 white Americans in 2022.
Native Americans and Alaska Natives had the highest rate of despair, with approximately 242 fatalities per 100,000 people in 2022.
According to researcher Joseph Friedman of UCLA’s David Geffen School of Medicine, “the findings reinforce the notion that we need to invest in services that can address these issues and, ultimately, we need much more comprehensive access to low-barrier mental health care and substance use treatment in the U.S.”
Deaths of Despair
In a university news release, Friedman continued, “And we need to specifically make sure those treatments, services, and programs are implemented in a way that is accessible for communities of color and will actively work to address inequality.”
Depressing deaths came to light after a 2015 study examined the factors contributing to the United States’ declining life expectancy and rise in midlife deaths between 1999 and 2013.
Deaths of Despair
According to that study, the death rate from despair was highest among white Americans in 2013, with 72 fatalities per 100,000 people—twice as many as among black Americans. The original study excluded Native Americans.
The researchers pointed out that the new data did not pinpoint the cause of these fatalities.
Friedman did note that mental health and drug use disorders are mostly to blame for these deaths of despair.
According to Friedman, black Americans have suffered disproportionately from the drug overdose issue. They are also more likely to be exposed to illicit narcotics laced with the potent synthetic opioid fentanyl, have fewer access to social services and health care, and generally experience worse levels of economic insecurity.
Deaths of Despair
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