The rise in “deaths of despair” among middle-aged white Americans may be linked to the decline in religious practice, according to new research.
Such an increase in deaths has also been highlighted by the opioid crisis, but new research argues skyrocketing suicide and deaths from alcohol abuse might be rooted in the loss of religion.by the National Bureau of Economic Research, found that the increase of “deaths of despair” among middle-aged white Americans starting in the early 1990s was the aftermath of a declining religiosity in the United States by the same group.
“Our findings show that social factors such as organized religion can play an important role in understanding deaths of despair,” they write.The group of economists looked at the impact of “blue laws” across the country, and how the increased repeal of such laws are quickly followed by a loss in church attendance and an increased secularization.
One of the more prominent blue laws is the sale of alcohol on Sabbath days, but the economists looked at blue laws not related to alcohol sales in order to get a full picture of their effects. By contrast, “states that had larger drops in religious attendance had larger increases in deaths of despair.”
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