New Study: Teen Suicides Higher in Conservative Areas

A new study that has tracked teen suicides - both by gay teens and those not identified as LGBT - and has documented that suicide rates are higher in conservative areas with low levels of Democrats. So now, in addition to being tied to slow or dying state and local economies, political conservatism/"Christianist religious beliefs also correlate with a higher death rate by suicide among teens of all sexual orientations. Can it be because of the constant negative, hate oriented world view and mistreatment of others who are deemed "other" that mark both political conservatives and far right religious believers? Obviously, it would seem so. This is truly yet another indictment of the toxic nature of both social phenomenons. Once again conservatism is proven to not make for a welcoming society. Instead, judging and denigrating others is the norm. Here are highlights from the Virginian Pilot on the study findings:
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Suicide attempts by gay teens - and even straight kids - are more common in politically conservative areas where schools don't have programs supporting gay rights, a study involving nearly 32,000 high school students found.
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Those factors raised the odds and were a substantial influence on suicide attempts even when known risk contributors like depression and being bullied were considered, said study author Mark Hatzenbuehler, a Columbia University psychologist and researcher.
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His study found a higher rate of suicide attempts even among kids who weren't bullied or depressed when they lived in counties less supportive of gays and with relatively few Democrats. A high proportion of Democrats was a measure used as a proxy for a more liberal environment.
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"Is it surprising? No. Is it important? Yes," said Dr. Robert Blum of Johns Hopkins' Bloomberg School of Public Health.
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e="times new roman">The study relied on teens' self-reporting suicide attempts within the previous year. Roughly 20 percent of gay, lesbian and bisexual teens said they had made an attempt, versus 4 percent of straight kids.
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The study's social index rated counties on five measures: prevalence of same-sex couples; registered Democratic voters; liberal views; schools with gay-straight alliances; schools with policies against bullying gay students; and schools with anti-discrimination policies that included sexual orientation.
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Gay, lesbian and bisexual teens living in counties with the lowest social index scores were 20 percent more likely to have attempted suicide than gays in counties with the highest index scores. Overall, about 25 percent of gay teens in low-scoring counties had attempted suicide, versus 20 percent of gay teens in high-scoring counties.
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Among straight teens, suicide attempts were 9 percent more common in low-scoring [conservative]counties
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So they next time you hear a far right conservative yammering about being a "loving Christian," know that such is probably not the case and that the individual may well have blood on his/her hands.