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[OldPsychDoc]

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America's Unhappiest Cities, per Business Week.

 

[BabyPsychDoc]

Interesting statistics. I am surprised Vegas rated this high - the suicide rate may be skewed by tourists, but the overall depression rate should not be, right? I am also surprised to see Jacksonville, Fla. among the top ten - why would that be? The rest is pretty much what you would expect considering other widely known factors.

 

[Indryd]

So, in Portland, OR, a relatively affluent, very progressive community, insurance companies report a very high occurrence of the "depression" code on their books.

But pick a crumbling, destitute city like oh say Baltimore, MD, and there is not a high rate of "depression" codes on the insurance books.

OBVIOUSLY people in Portland are more depressed!

What a horrible little survey.

Cash
+
access (excellent state-run health plan for the low/low-middle class)
+
a very self-reflective, "enlightened" milieu
+
unremarkable substance dependence rates (less likely to self-medicate rather than seek help)
=
high rate of reporting and detecting depression, NOT necessarily a higher than normal rate of occurrence of depression.

Poverty
+
poor access
+
very low education and a culture where depression is HUGELY stigmatized
+
unreal rates of substance abuse (think self-medicating)
=
very low rates of people seeking medical help for depression and therefore low numbers on MA and insurance books regardless of true rate of depression.

I picked Baltimore because I happen to be familiar with both Portland and Baltimore, but my guess there are plenty of cities like this, where poverty, poor access, and massive cultural stigma falsely deflate depression "rates".

And since this studied weighted depression "rates" the most heavily, I think Portland got a bad rap.

 

[whopper]

I don't know much about Portland, but visited it, and it didn't seem like a depressing place to me.

Syracuse NY, Newark, Camden, or Detroit now those are depressing cities!

Cincinnati was on the list, & IMHO its actually pretty good in this area. People here are nicer than NJ or NY. Almost every day in NJ there was a traffic jam, even during non-rush hour. The hospital was about 4 miles away from where I lived and it sometimes took 30 minutes to get there. The weather isn't as good as NJ, though not to the point where its depressing. I'm no weather expert, but it seems we're just on the edge of the lake effect zone, but still get some of it. Winters here have plenty of days without much sunlight. Summers are actually quite good--the sun sets about 9:30-10pm because we're on the western edge of the time zone, though waking up in winter at 7:15, and its still pitch black is a bummer.

I've been to New Orleans, and that place is nowhere near as depressing as Camden or Newark.

 

[notdeadyet]

Syracuse NY, Newark, Camden, or Detroit now those are depressing cities!

Seconded. Any such list lacking Newark is suspect...

 

[surftheiop]

Yeah I was wondering about Portland, because it seems like I always see it listed near the top of the "best places to live" lists.

Also I second adding Newark to the list, just a couple hours in that airport is enough to put you in a funk

 

[kugel]

Oh, come on.
Newark is a tropical paradise where nothing ever goes wrong and the sun always shines. . .

in comparison to it's ugly little sister, Bayonne.

 

[BobA]

So, in Portland, OR, a relatively affluent, very progressive community, insurance companies report a very high occurrence of the "depression" code on their books.

But pick a crumbling, destitute city like oh say Baltimore, MD, and there is not a high rate of "depression" codes on the insurance books.

OBVIOUSLY people in Portland are more depressed!

What a horrible little survey.

Cash
+
access (excellent state-run health plan for the low/low-middle class)
+
a very self-reflective, "enlightened" milieu
+
unremarkable substance dependence rates (less likely to self-medicate rather than seek help)
=
high rate of reporting and detecting depression, NOT necessarily a higher than normal rate of occurrence of depression.

Poverty
+
poor access
+
very low education and a culture where depression is HUGELY stigmatized
+
unreal rates of substance abuse (think self-medicating)
=
very low rates of people seeking medical help for depression and therefore low numbers on MA and insurance books regardless of true rate of depression.

I picked Baltimore because I happen to be familiar with both Portland and Baltimore, but my guess there are plenty of cities like this, where poverty, poor access, and massive cultural stigma falsely deflate depression "rates".

And since this studied weighted depression "rates" the most heavily, I think Portland got a bad rap.

I agree with you that this survey isn't perfect and probably wouldn't be included in the Cochrane Library.

However, I lived in Portland for 1.5 years and I can see why it would be on the most "miserable" list. The economy there sucks! If you have a skill like an MD, or RN, or Eingineer then you can probably find a pretty good job and live very well since the cost of living is so low. But for unskilled workers (like I was at the time) the job market was terrible. Add to that 6months of absent sunshine and you have a recipe for unhappiness if not frank depression.

Granted, the summer there is amazing, and the surrounding mountains are beautiful, but for me it was a pretty tough place to "make it." And the lack of good jobs is what ultimately forced me to leave.