Evista problems. Evista. Evista consulting….

Queuno – true point – someone needs to do a thorough study of all of the literature on antidepressant use/depression rates in Utah and see if there is a plausible interpretation of the data.

I would admit that the ExpressScripts info could suggest higher than average anti-depressant usage in Utah.

The problem I think is that “high rates of depression amoung Utah mormons” is a widely repeated meme. I had heard it before and never really bothered to look into it. I asked my wife and sister, they had both heard it. So I googled it and it appears that it all traces back to these annual Express Scripts marketing reports and that is regularly repeated on anti-mormon websites.

Even if one was to concede that anti-depressant usage was higher and cancel out other factors to infer that depression rates were actually higher in Utah. A much likelier explanation is the Utah age demographic, the CDC states “Younger American adults, aged 18–24 years, suffered the most mental health distress.”

The CDC also released findings on “health-related quality of life,” which show Utah in-line with the region and pretty average with respect the national trends.

Elusive – many have addressed your questions in detail and tried to provide constructive ideas (thanks Bookslinger for all the patience and well thought out responses). I think your mischaracterization of the stream was unwarranted as others have pointed out. We are all trying to become better Saints and people.

MAC – I still think that the paper I pulled and put a link in combined with this expresscript data suggest that antidepressant usage in Utah (for whatever reasons) are higher. As some point out this is not necessarily a bad thing nor does it suggest depression rates are higher in Utah, but it certainly suggests something different occurs in Utah vs states like NY and NJ.

For instance, do we really need to address the issue of _how_ the church culture is _different_ east of the Mississippi, and some people may therefore feel like they fit in better, culturally speaking? Although the doctrines are supposed to be the same, is it wrong to suggest that _some_ people may find the culture of _some_ wards more to their liking than others, hence better for that particular person? Did what I write (suggesting that he move east, and that he’d “like it better” in the Eastern half of the country) really come across as a blanket statement of “the church is better” in the east?

Was I (and the other commenter who suggested the same thing) being a sloppy and imprecise writer, or did he mischaracterize what we wrote?

I feel like we were played with by an RfM-er. I think bbell in #39 had it right.

The sad and frustrating thing is, there is a particle of truth in what they (DAMU-ites, RfM-ers) say. People can get hurt in the church. But such hurts are either the mistakes of men, or just the ups and downs of life. Getting hurt in the church doesn’t mean the church or the gospel isn’t true. Like them, when I got hurt I thought the best solution for me was to leave the church. But through the Lord’s intervention, I was given to know that my spiritual healing had to take place from _inside_ the gospel (and hence inside the true church) , and couldn’t happen outside the gospel.

It’s interesting that when Elusive’s original comments didn’t elicit the commiseration that he wanted, he then resorted to further extreme statements/accusations that would provoke contention.

I’m trying to think back to my situation right before I left the church, and think of how someone could have helped me stay in the church. Right now, I’m thinking I needed a trusted friend or mentor back then. But back then, I didn’t have any close friends and I didn’t trust the local leadership. Everyone just gave platitude type answers that didn’t directly address my issues, and I didn’t trust anyone enough to tell them what the issues were. And I didn’t fully understand the issues either, or how to put them into words.

If Elusive (or people in the situation he describes) can’t, or for whatever reason doesn’t, trust his bishop, and if there’s no one in his ward that is willing to be his friend, then ward shopping seems to be a viable path to pursue in order to stay in the church. I say that because the answers to our spiritual problems reside _in_ the gospel and _in_ the true church. If you can’t get what you need from a particular ward, look in other wards. That’s not to say that “the church is better” in one place or another, but it may be “better for _you_”. (And I really don’t feel like writing a book so as to not have that misinterpreted, so if he or anyeone else wants to jump on me for it, sorry, I’ll try not to be contentious.)

I’m starting to think you would only be happy if we all agreed to leave the church over the issue of depression.

My question for you now is, how can you be part of the solution?