Week of 8/29-9/2

   This week we further explored the differences between sociology and psychology and what the definition of sociology is. The most interesting activity we did this week was the story of Ted and Zelda. The story somewhat solidified the definition of what sociology was by portraying how the couple's external issues led to their depression. As we talked about in class, the amount of people depressed in an area have as much to do with the sociological characteristics as it does the psychological issues of the individual. Ted and Zelda's end was mostly the outcome of several negative sociological affects such as not being able to pay the bills and being in an abusive workplace.

    After talking about suicidal rates in class, I believe that suicides are much more of a result of sociological issues. We identified the most important indicator of suicidal rates as the level of human/family connections. So, it only made sense that an urban area such as California would have a higher suicidal rate than Iowa. Historically speaking the suicide rate in America has risen and continues to rise. I think the continued push for urbanization has everything to do with it. However, as I began to read more about the psychological vs. the sociological factors I began to realize that some studies say that people in rural areas commit suicide just as often, if not more. Nevertheless, I think this still has a great deal to do with urbanization as children growing up in rural areas idolize living in urban areas. But many may not be able to do so because of their economic class or their parents being farmers.

 Is there a rural mental health crisis?