Purposeful Solutions

Abnormal Returns linked to a brutal article by Stat chronicling the increasing number of suicides in "older men" per the CDC. The first half of the article gives some real food for thought but the second half turns into a very political editorial so fair warning if politics aren't your thing.

The crux of the CDC study focused on men over 75 butStat noted that "suicide rates have risen steadily for two decades among men 55 and older." One expert blamed what he called the Five D's which are depression, disease, disability, disconnection and deadly means. 

The article really is a continuation of the conversation we've been having here as more people and research come to some very obvious conclusions. Taking up some good habits or maybe even just losing some bad habits can address at least four of the Five D's. Sidebar, this is a serious blog post but Five D's makes me think of the movie Dodgeball.

There are no absolutes as I always say but anything along these lines I share has been researched and published. That the research has been done is indisputable, of course anyone may draw a different conclusion about researched conclusions. This list on Twitter is where I get a lot of related content. 

• Depression: there are countless studies connecting vigorous exercise to relieving depression. I am not saying it can solve depression for everyone but if 21 million Americans suffer from depression (per NIMH in 2021) and an exercise program can solve it for 10-20%, of that population, that seems like a huge win.
• Disease: we learn as children that we should exercise and to not eat too much sugar. The list of problems prevented or solved by good body composition and a healthy metabolism is endless.
• Disability: chronic maladies often lead to some sort of disability and that sort of disability is what can possibly be addressed with behavior modification. Someone who gets hurt is certainly a different story and there are of course medical issues/events that have nothing to do with behavior modification. 
• Disconnection: if you have any interest in successful aging, you've read something about the importance of social connections. Loneliness is a killer. 
• Deadly means: this refers to access to guns and where the article then takes a very political turn. This part is outside the scope of what interests me so I'll leave it alone.

Related to disconnection, on the way back from our offsite fire training yesterday, one of the firefighters referred to volunteering with the department as her third space. She has her home life, work and firefighting. I'd never heard the term before so I looked it up. She said space but the Google result came up with place.

We've explored the third space concept I think, I've used the word constituencies and talked about being a polyinterested (a play on words for polymath). 

Volunteering anywhere checks a lot of boxes in terms of interaction, engagement, being mentally challenged and maybe even physically challenged. Obviously I am going to make a plug for volunteer firefighting.

From yesterday's training, about a third of the department plus three recruits. I'm by the cab wearing a white helmet. Social engagement, purposeful activity, a need to stay fit, a chance for a small income and we get to do a lot of cool stuff. 

A combo like that addresses a lot of what is covered in the first half of the Stat article. 

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