Depression and suicide linked to altitude

[mustski]

This is a cursory, summary article but it’s the first I’ve heard of a link between altitude and suicide. They mention Salt Lake but no mention of Denver. I would think Denver would be good candidate for data on altitude.
https://www.sltrib.com/news/health/2018/07/01/university-utah-research/

 

[Christy]

It turns out other mountainous states have similarly high suicide rates, with Montana, Wyoming and New Mexico also in the top five and Alaska ranked second.

This is less about the study and more about the author of the article, but almost no one lives at elevation in Alaska. I don't see how you could correlate the very high AK suicide rate with elevation (which to be fair the study doesn't claim to do).

 

[mustski]

Right? And it mentions Montana and Wyoming but not Colorado???

 

[pinto]

Right? And it mentions Montana and Wyoming but not Colorado???

Well, CO wasn't Top 5, although it's Top 10.

We had a long and interesting discussion on Pugski a couple years ago about this; I hope it's ok to link.

 

[skibum4ever]

There may be other reasons for a high suicide rate in some of these states. I think Alaska makes the grade due to the extensive hours of darkness.

Montana and Wyoming ski areas are pretty isolated and that might be a contributing factor.

However, I can't come up offhand with other likely contributing factors in SLC and New Mexico. I'm intrigued and will read the article and the Pugski discussion.

 

[newboots]

Long hours of darkness must contribute quite a bit. I just moved only 2 hours north, and as a psychotherapist I’ve found dramatic differences in the proportion of depressed people who are worse in the winter. Perhaps the isolation from increased snow and a more rural area contribute, too. I get out a lot in winter but I noticed a difference in myself, especially sleep patterns.

 

[SallyCat]

There are a lot of questions left open about association vs. causation in that article, which is a bit of a shotgun-blast of loosely-connected facts. But I would definitely be interested in the impact of altitude on serotonin levels and anti-deppressant effectiveness.

The "environmental" factors are compelling of course, but we're not given any demographic information about the victims.

 

[mustski]

For me, a lack of sunshine completely affects my mood - summer or winter. It's one of the primary reasons that I settled in CA - sunshine. As much as I love WA - we visit relatives there every summer, in Ocean Shores. The amount of cloudy days is overbearing to me. As we look to a retirement move in the next couple of years - one of the first things I check is the number of sunny or partially sunny days in a year. We have eliminated quite a few spots which didn't have enough sunshine for me - even if they did have great skiing!

 

[Christy]

During a heat wave last year I desperately looked for a weekend house to rent on the Sound/islands/coast and all I could find was a place on the SW coast not too far from Ocean Shores. It was in the 90s in Seattle and I think about 55, windy and gloomy there. I was ready to go after a night, heat wave or no. It takes a hardy person to live in that area--there's a reason it's so much cheaper than any other waterfront area in WA.

 

[alicie]

I actually love it when it’s dark and miserable. It makes me feel safe and less visible. Whilst I do love sunshine too and light nights, I feel very open and unprotected. I also don’t live at even a vaguely high altitude nor spent much time at altitude. It’s interesting and understandable that they can affect depression and suicidalness. They don’t effect mine I don’t think, at least not that I’ve noticed but then I don’t notice till I’m right at the bottom.

 

[liquidfeet]

This site (snowsbest.com) gives very good info on depression in a ski town. The author has personal experience with depression, and does her research as well.
https://www.snowsbest.com/seasonal-depression/
https://www.snowsbest.com/ski-town-depression-suicide/
https://www.snowsbest.com/r-u-snowkay/

 

[newboots]

(Deleted. Duplicate)

 

[newboots]

Thanks for these links.

I’ve been hit hard with a seasonal exhaustion that I didn’t recognize as SAD at first because my mood was pretty good. But wow, when the light diminished, the two years I’ve lived in VT, I’ve been so deeply fatigued that I felt like I was carrying a 75-lb. backpack everywhere.

The bright light therapy works! And exercise outdoors, which helps a lot.

 

[mustski]

It always takes me awhile to adjust the time change. I don't like that it gets dark so early in winter. However, we have so much sunshine in CA that my mood isn't affected. I could not handle Alaska, that is for sure!