"Mormon media ad campaigns promise better lives, yet in Utah, where 70 percent
of the population and 95 percent of legislators are Mormon, suicide rates are
surpassed only by Nevada among the elderly and only by Minnesota among youth.
Four hundred locations in Salt Lake County openly sell drugs. The murder rate
for children is five times higher than the national average. Fifty percent of
Utah's births are to teen girls, and seven out of ten are illegitimate. Salt
Lake County's divorce rate is almost 50 percent higher than the national
average." (Baptist Bulletin, November, 1999) from (Frontline, March/April 2000)

More Info

The Salt Lake Tribune recently reported that a study by a drug manufacture shows that Utah leads the nation for anti-depressant use. The result was surprising because the various factors that establish a region for high use of anti-depressants predict that Utah wouldn't be such a high use state--Utah was an anomaly in the study. The drug company didn't dare articulate the obvious observation that Utah's high drug rate was correlated with Utah's high Mormon rate. It seems to me that the correlation should be explored. Mormonism works for some people--it gives their lives structure, meaning and happiness. But for others it drains their spirituality, compromises their intellectual integrity, and cultivates depression.

BY TROY GOODMAN

THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE

Utahns pop more Prozac-style anti-depressant drugs than do the people of any other state, according to a new study.

The high anti-depressant use could mean Utahns are getting the drugs they need, as prescribed by their doctors, compared with prescription rates in other states. Or it could be an indicator that Utahns are more depressed than the rest of America, said state epidemiologist Robert Rolfs, who was not involved in the research.

"This study doesn't mean everybody is on anti-depressants," Rolfs said. "We do know there's a lot of variation in medical practices, and people and their doctors do things differently in different states."

Overall, though, most health care experts said they already knew Utah topped the country's Prozac, Zoloft, Paxil and Clomipramine use just by watching the number of depressed patients balloon.

"It looks about right," said Jim Jorgenson, director of pharmacy services for the University of Utah's hospital and clinic system.

The study, released this week, found the type and frequency of prescription drugs consumers take depends partly on where they live. Data were based on medical claims made to Express Scripts, a St. Louis-based pharmacy benefit management company considered one of the country's largest drug management firms.

People in Utah, Maine and Oregon take more anti-depressants than the residents of any other state, while those in California, New York and New Jersey take the least, the study said.

But Utah's anti-depressant use ranked remarkably higher than most states, averaging 1.1 prescriptions per person per year, compared with the national average of about 0.7.

Express Scripts senior researcher Brenda Motheral said the company looked at claims of 2 million Amer- icans enrolled in commercial and managed-care health plans last year. The results include adults with jobs and their dependents, but not prescription drug users enrolled in government-sponsored programs such as Medicare or Medicaid.

Motheral said high anti-depressant use in rugged states with poor weather, short summers and lots of economic woes -- such as Maine and Oregon -- was not surprising. "But with Utah, those [factors] didn't stick with us," she said. No further Express Scripts study is planned to find out why the state ranked so high.

The study found that in 45 states, including Utah, about 5 percent of patients racked up half of all drug expenditures to insurers, company benefit plans or third-party administrators in health care.

Intermountain Health Care, which said it did not use Express Scripts because it relies on in-house pharmacy control, has seen overall spending on drugs double since last year. The hike in pharmacy costs is especially troubling as IHC pharmacy costs had been dropping steadily in previous years, a company spokesman said.

Motheral said reasons vary as to why patients in Utah take more anti-depressants. Consumer preference as well as differences in risk factors can cause regional variations, she said.

Utah also came in high in terms of anti-diabetic medication use, along with analgesic (high-dose pain pills) and anti-inflammatories, the report found.

Antidepressants Common in Utah

For some time it has been known that Utah has had a high rate of antidepressant drug usage. Now this theory has been confirmed in a national study showing how antipressant drugs are prescribed twice as often in Utah than any other state, including three times higher than New York and New Jersey. The study, which was released last summer and updated in January, was done by tabulating prescription orders. Its authenticity was confirmed by Dr. Curtis Canning, the president of the Utah Psychiartic Assn. Saying he had "some hunches" about why Utah ranked so high despite the fact that 70 percent of its residents are Mormon, Dr. Canning said, "In Mormondom, there is a social expectation--particularly among the females--to put on a mask, say 'Yes' to everything that comes at her and hide the misery and pain. I call it the 'Mother of Zion' syndrome. You are supposed to be perfect because Mrs. Smith across the street can do it and she has three more kids than you and her hair is always in place. I think the cultural issue is very real. There is the expectation that you should be happy, and if you're not happy, you're failing."

Because Mormonism "requires perfection and the public presentation of a happy face, whatever may be happening privately," many try to hide their struggles and are therefore in need of the mood-altering drugs. One 71-year-old Utah woman says she has no problem getting prescriptions for her drugs. "Look around, you can easily find people who take them," she said. "I think it's the cultural environment. Most men here would just as soon their wives take pills than bother to delve into the problems, and maybe find out they might have something to do with the problems." The woman's three grown children are also addicted. Another Utah woman said she quit the drugs after 15 years of use. "It's like Happy Valley here," she said, describing the Salt Lake Valley. "It's a scary place sometimes. People don't talk about their problems. Everything is always rosy. That's how we got ourselves into this mess--we're good at ignoring things."

Besides the high usage of antidepressants, Utah also leads the nation in the use of narcotic painkillers such as codeine and morphine-based drugs. (LA Times, 2/20/02)

Teen Suicide
More Information

June 9, 2000

A new government survey says that although Utah teens are healthier than their peers nationwide, they are more likely to commit suicide.

News Specialist Shelley Osterloh explains what the report says and what state health officials are doing to find out what Utah kids need.

First the good news: Utah students have the lowest rate of smoking and one of the lowest rates of drinking and abusing drugs.

The report also says Utah students attempt suicide less than their peers nationally-- 7 percent versus 8 percent.

Now the bad news: The actual rate of suicide in Utah is much higher than the national average.

Of the 15 to 24 year olds who died in 1997, 20 percent killed themselves. That makes suicide the state's second-leading single cause of death behind car accidents.

Of the 10 to 24 year olds who died in the United States nationally, 12 percent killed themselves, making it the fourth leading cause of death nationally.

Utah's health department has been studying Utah suicides since 1996 to determine why the victims killed themselves and how the state can prevent other deaths.

They have been interviewing family members of victims to determine what preceded the suicide. The study should be finished this summer.

Utah Teen Suicide Prevention Resources

Mormon Church Statistics for 1997
(Source Church's Annual Report)

2,424 Stakes
649 Districts
318 Missions
64,670 Wards/Branches
143 Nations - 19 Territories
10,070,524 Members
75,000 Increase in membership from births
317,798 Converts baptized
56,531 Full-time Missionaries

Utah Leads Nation in Antidepressant Consumption

Domestic Violence: Falling USA, Rising in Utah

Women killed by husbands and boyfriends in Utah

Something Interesting About Kids and Guns

Educational Spending

Divorce, Murder, and Rape in Utah

Growth Rate Comparison

Crime Falls Nationally, but Climbs in Utah

Child Abuse in Mormonism

CREATIVE GRACE HOME

Statistics for the population of Mormons in Utah

The number of Mormons in Utah have been decreasing dramatically since 1990, but Mormon still hold nearly all of the political power in Utah.