US Deaths of Despair 1968-2022

These US mortality data from the CDC show the crude death rate for the aggregate of (deaths by suicide + alcohol abuse + drug abuse) / population size.

This table shows Native Americans have long been afflicted with the highest rate of "deaths of despair." Whites, over time, are catching up. Asians are least despairing. Overall, this suggests American society is splitting into the defeated and the conquering.
From 1968 - 1998, the CDC collected data for three racial categories only: white, black, and other. "Other" was, in 1968, primarily Native American, but a growing Asian population split with Natives in 1999. This is reflected in the data showing a very high rate of deaths of despair in 1968, which gradually decreased until 1999 as the Asian population grew.
Chart: craignelsen.substack.comSource: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics. National Vital Statistics System, Mortality: Compressed Mortality File 1979-1998. CDC WONDER On-line Database, compiled from Compressed Mortality File CMF Mortality: Compressed Mortality File 1968-1978. CDC WONDER Online Database, 1968-1988, Series 20, No. 2A, 2000 and CMF 1989-1998, Series 20, No. 2E, 2003. Accessed at http://wonder.cdc.gov/cmf-icd9.html on Aug 17, 2024 9:49:32 PM compiled from Compressed Mortality File CMF 1968-1988, Series 20, No. 2A, 2000. Accessed at http://wonder.cdc.gov/cmf-icd8.html on Aug 17, 2024 9:59:52 PM Mortality: Compressed Mortality File 1999-2016 on CDC WONDER Online Database, released June 2017. Data are from the Compressed Mortality File 1999-2016 Series 20 No. 2U, 2016, as compiled from data provided by the 57 vital statistics jurisdictions through the Vital Statistics Cooperative Program. Mortality 2018-2022 on CDC WONDER Online Database, released in 2024. Data are from the Multiple Cause of Death Files, 2018-2022, as compiled from data provided by the 57 vital statistics jurisdictions through the Vital Statistics CooperativeProgramGet the dataEmbed Download imageCreated with Datawrapper