Many Generation Xers "desolate" as they navigate adulthood

PanARMENIAN.Net - Despair runs rampant through Generation X as these Americans struggle through middle age, a new study reports, according to USA News.

So-called indicators of despair -- depression, suicide, drug and alcohol abuse -- are rising among those in their late 30s and early 40s, and it's occurring across-the-board, researchers say.

"These are getting worse as people age through their 30s," said lead researcher Lauren Gaydosh, an assistant professor with the Vanderbilt University Center for Medicine, Health and Society. "For example, heavy drinking is really peaking again, almost to levels equivalent to where they were at college age."

Previous studies have drawn attention to these "deaths of despair," but initially it appeared they were occurring mainly among poorly educated whites, Gaydosh said.

These new findings indicate that despair is pervasive throughout Generation X, affecting people regardless of their race, background or family income.

"Mortality, particularly for middle-aged people 45 to 54, has actually been increasing for the past several decades," Gaydosh said. "The fact that indicators of despair are more generalized is concerning. It could mean these increases in mortality might spread more broadly, across all demographic groups."

Gaydosh and her colleagues tracked despair indicators among a group of people who were in grades 7 through 12 in 1994-1995, which places them among the youngest members of Generation X.

Gen X is considered to consist of people born from the early-to-mid 1960s through the early 1980s; this study focused on people born between 1974 and 1983.

The investigators found that suicidal thoughts, symptoms of depression, marijuana use and heavy drinking all increased as these people aged into their late 30s.

Despair increased among those in their 30s across the country, and there was no evidence that only low-education whites were struggling with despair.

Patterns of drinking, drug use and depression varied across races and education levels. For example, whites were more likely to binge drink in adolescence, while Hispanics and blacks of all ages were more likely to report depressive symptoms.

But, overall, the trends were broadly the same across Generation X, researchers reported.