A recent report says one in fifteen Utahans has considered suicide in tthe last year. IN one year that many have considered it!!!! Boy that suicide hotline must be hopping. It is really very sad.
I just read yesterday that there is a sharp increase in suicide in the Midwest and the West, but the East is the same.
You could say it's the economy, but what is the reason for the regional disparity? Is it jobs? I think there is more employment available in the East than in the Midwest. Also, more jobs have transferable skills in the East than in the Midwest.
I can only put forth an observation from my perspective of working with lots of mormons. I observe the cog-dis that goes on daily in my workplace and the pressure cooker life that many of my co-workers have. They don't dare criticize the church overtly but the little jabs they do make are quite telling. I know that some of these folks(and/or their spouses) are on anti-anxiety and anti-depressant medications and most of them seem quite unhappy.
Utah has a high bankruptcy rate, high foreclosure rate, HUGE use of payday lenders(Utah has over 500 of those places), and lots of kids. When their church requires 10% of their gross income as tithing, it creates crises. Add to the mix of being perfect (even if one of their apostles told them to stop trying to be perfect) with billboards plastered everywhere along the highways about plastic surgery etc, the women really get a mixed message about their own bodies.
The young people who don't walk in lock-step with the majority feel marginalized and I've seen that first hand with my fiance's teenage daughters.
It doesn't surprise me AT ALL that Utah is at the top of the suicidal thoughts list. Not at all.
I think you hit the nail right on the head gemini. Don't forget that Utah also has the highest rate of internet pornography subscriptions. You mentioned plastic surgery, Utah also boasts the highest number of plastic surgeons per capita.