Is New York More Ill Than Seattle?
A series of public health reports have just been released by various local public health departments. New York City's report, according to the Times, pegs the rate of "frequent mental distress" at about 14 percent of the population. The US average is 10 percent. Seattle/King County comes in at about 9 percent, according the our local public health department. I'll poke into these reports more after I print them out. But what makes me a bit queasy already is this term frequent mental distress. It's not the same as mental illness, is it? I don't think so.
BTW, although this nebulous FMD rate is higher in New York than Seattle, don't assume that means Seattle is less messed up than New York City. Historically, Seattle's suicide rate far outpaces NYC's.
More to come.
Posted by Philip Dawdy at April 10, 2006 12:05 AM
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I don't like comparisons, I shy away from them, Comparing cousins - had enough of that. I'm not worried about what NY and Seattle have in common regarding mental illness, mental anguish or mental distress or suicide. However, your subject may interest many others.
