Dead wrong? I’m overstating it a bit. At least half of us in mid-life are happy. In fact, we’re happier than we’ve ever been.
The other half of Boomers? Suicidal and making good on it.
That’s a brutal reality for the largest and richest generation in history.
The results of the latest Centers for Disease Controle and Prevention study found that the group between ages of 45 and 54 had the highest rate of suicide, reversing a historical trend. Traditionally, people over 80 register the highest rates with the 16- to 19-year olds being another vulnerable group. While rates for the elders and teenagers are dipping, Boomers are roaring ahead and might quickly take this top spot.
Given that suicide rates among middle-aged American have been rising for five years, Dr. Ortega, a CDC medical epidemiologist, said, “We anticipate that the trend might continue.”
Why are Boomers giving up in midlife? Seems it’s all a little confusing to the researchers, too. They use the following talking points as explanations:
- Boomers came to maturity in a time of great social changes, more instability, more divorce and separation, more moves, an increase in drug use and war. (Hey, Gen Y does this sound like you?)
- Our brain chemistry is wacked out. Neuroscientists have shown that when exposed to negative and positive input younger adults the amygdale, the brain’s emotional nut, is activated; in a Boomer’s brain we only activate that nut for positive emotions while we tamp down and tune out the negative.
- There’s a tenfold increase in the use of prescription opioid painkillers. This availability of drugs and increased use could be related to a jump in accidental drug overdoses.
Flimsy, unsubstantiated theories says one expert, Dr. Erick C. Caine, co-director at the Center for the Study and Prevention of Suicide at the University of Rochester Medical Center.
What are the real reasons? Maybe we Boomers approached midlife to discover we weren’t all that exceptional after all. That would be a game changer for many of us.
Perhaps we realized that we chased the wrong end of the rainbow, road the wrong horse, left marriages too early, stayed in marriages too long, and made too big a deal about careers.
Whatever the real reasons might be, Gen X, Y and Z take note.
You do better with your lives. Hear me? You do better.
3 Responses (add yours)
This is pretty scary….I’m a Gen X, and I’ve always thought that Boomers have it all. Even though they’ve lost a good chunk of their nest eggs, they still typically have a much larger nest egg than their parents ever had. For many of them, all they had to do was get a college degree and work hard – and they were guaranteed a better life than that of their parents. And now they’re depressed? I’m trying to be sympathetic here, but it seems depression is a luxury none of us can afford right now. This economy needs the Boomers, so buck up, please.
For better or worse, Boomers are still the primary role models of these subsequent alphabeters. And as such, will be trendsetters. Does this mean Xers will begin “dropping out” in another 15 years, or so? As Boomers reach and move into their Golden Years, would it not be helpful to plan a “retirement sabbatical” that could bridge and define how sunny life after work can actually be?!
Thanks–I think!?!–for that sad but insightful story. I do hope (as Elizabeth suggests) that boomers “buck up.” But at the same time, I think the vast menu of choices and alleged freedoms they’ve enjoyed can also lead to more angst and confusion. A generation or two ago, my kinfolk lived strong, simple lives on the farm. Lots of fresh air and food, lots of friends and laughter, didn’t expect or ask for more. Sometimes, I envy that lifestyle and outlook. Most boomers never knew that peace of mind–and go seeking it in all sorts of wrong places. Be well, boomers. We still need you.