Deaths of Despair Were Rising Long Before Opioids

Deaths of despair were rising long before opioids

Long before opioids flooded communities, something else was quietly changing—and it may have helped set the stage for today’s crisis. A new study finds that as church attendance dropped among middle-aged, less educated white Americans, deaths from overdoses, suicide, and alcohol-related disease began to rise. The trend started years before OxyContin appeared, suggesting the opioid epidemic intensified a problem already underway.

Falling church attendance is linked to increase of 'deaths of despair'

A new study suggests that fewer people going to church—especially among white, middle-aged Americans without college degrees—may be connected to the rise in “deaths of despair” across the United States. These deaths include drug overdoses, suicides, and liver disease caused by alcohol. The study found that states where church attendance dropped the most between 1985 […] The post Falling church attendance is linked to increase of ‘deaths of despa…