Portland-Vancouver Rated as Most Depressed City in the U.S.

[BroadwayVik]

And it shows. A new report ranked Portland-Vancouver for the highest rate of depression in the nation.

Many from the area live in denial about depression. According to WalletHub, an online clearinghouse for financial advice and quality-of-life studies, Portland-Vancouver has the highest rates of depression among the 150 largest cities in the country.

WalletHub used 30 metrics to evaluate each city "ranging from depression rate to income-growth rate to average leisure time spent per day." Figures were drawn from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and several others sources.

Those metrics were then divided into three key dimensions with weighted scores. The first category, "Emotional and Physical Well-Being," accounted for 50 percent of the score. The second and third, "Income and Employment" as well as "Community and Environment," each accounted for 25 percent.

The state of Oregon isn't in great shape to deal with depression, either. An assessment last year from Mental Health America found the state ranked 49th out of 50 in terms of access to mental health care.
Oregon thus ranked next to dead last for people with mental health concerns, the report found. For those suffering from mental health issues, there is but one state in the country that is worse than Oregon for finding help.

Characteristic of its low ranking, Oregon has crisis hotlines only for young people, military members and those contemplating suicide. That's it.

Oregon DHS attitude: We don't do that! Just die, okay?

 

[BroadwayVik]

If Portland Metro is the most depressing metropolitan area in the nation, why do our school colors, in essence, celebrate the depressive mood?

Our official colors are green, white and silver. But instead of silver, we use black. But when we do use silver, it looks grey and not the bright sort of silver you might think of a silver dollar might have.

Is there a way to use these colors to create an effect to counter their depressive feeling? Is there a way to make them >POP!< and, thereby, turn depression on its head?

If we join closer with OHSU, I would suggest using the color of surgeon operating gowns (green, blue) to go with white. I wouldn't even want to use silver anymore as the only team I can think of that uses our present colors is the Philadelphia Eagles and they haven't been able to achieve much at all, even with Chip Kelly at the helm.

 

[martymoose]

If Portland Metro is the most depressing metropolitan area in the nation, why do our school colors, in essence, celebrate the depressive mood?

Our official colors are green, white and silver. But instead of silver, we use black. But when we do use silver, it looks grey and not the bright sort of silver you might think of a silver dollar might have.

Is there a way to use these colors to create an effect to counter their depressive feeling? Is there a way to make them >POP!< and, thereby, turn depression on its head?

If we join closer with OHSU, I would suggest using the color of surgeon operating gowns (green, blue) to go with white. I wouldn't even want to use silver anymore as the only team I can think of that uses our present colors is the Philadelphia Eagles and they haven't been able to achieve much at all, even with Chip Kelly at the helm.

Nay on the scrubs colors for us.

 

[BroadwayVik]

You prefer not the scrub colors? But don't you find our colors (green, grey, white) depressing as hell? Do they rouse one to action? Or do they depress one to lethargy?

Gee, perhaps we can use their depressive effect against the other team and lull them into lethargy? My gosh, that might be quite the source of value in having the most depressive environment and wearing the most depressive colors in college sports: Depressing the hell out of the visiting teams! Maybe this is the kind of tactic England uses to their advantage.

If our team can overcome the environment's and uniforms' depressing effects, perhaps visiting teams can be made subject to our soporific. Let's depress the hell out of them and win the game! We could have a stadium announcer with a Stephen Wright voice.

3rd down and 4 .... yeah

This is so damn depressing.

Given white, could you think of a more depressing combination of colors? Cleveland Brown colors are worthy competition. What's the most depressing combination of colors?

......................................Ours are! Ours are! Ours are!

Hey, when it comes to handling depression ... We're Vikings! But can YOU handle it?
...........................................................................

 

[BroadwayVik]

"And then ... depression set it."

Do people hold that being depressed is somehow being hip, being cool?

What is depression exactly? ..........................Persistent lack of joy.

How do Viks deal successfully overcoming Portland depression?
(after mid-October)

 

[BroadwayVik]

To become a national leader, might I suggest the

OHSU-Portland State University
National Institute for Depression Studies

...........School of Public Health...........

 

[BroadwayVik]

This is how the sun really is making you happier

Have you ever wondered how the sun affects your mood?

Researchers at Brigham Young University, Utah, USA, have been looking into how the time between sunrise and sunset alters your behaviour.

Results prove that the amount of time the sun is out does genuinely effect everyone's mental state, even more so than other factors like temperature, pollution and rain.

The team at the university, who have published a study which discovered that people were more unhappy when days were shorter and there was less sunshine.

In contrast, people were more upbeat when daylight was more prolonged as opposed to how many rays were being absorbed.

Results were concluded when examiners studied meteorological data from the university's Physics and Astronomy Weather Station and pollution data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Patients mental health at Brigham Young's Counseling and Psychological Services Centre were also compared with the weather.

On a rainy day, or a more polluted day, people assume that they’d have more distress. But we didn’t see that. We looked at solar irradiance, or the amount of sunlight that actually hits the ground. We tried to take into account cloudy days, rainy days, pollution ... but they washed out. The one thing that was really significant was the amount of time between sunrise and sunset.

So next time you are in the sun, appreciate it not just for your suntan but also your mental wellbeing.