[FRIAM] Statistical poser (aka fact checking is hard)

[Marcus Daniels]

Robert writes:

“Estimates vary by source, but fraction of opioid deaths that are suicide is around 20-30%”

What I’d really like to know is how the fraction of opioid deaths occur with individuals that have no historical sign of mental illness at all, and would be described by their friends and colleagues as effective and engaged prior to their initial prescription.   I would expect that mental illness is massively underdiagnosed in this country, and especially in the blue collar mid-west where it is considered a taboo topic and people have not had adequate health insurance to use to diagnose it.    I strongly suspect a structural cause of all this is the idea that free will exists, combined with the inevitable evolution of the economy toward more automation.   Millions of people, maybe hundreds of millions of people, have what amounts to a mistaken view of the world.   Similar arguments apply to the ongoing outbursts of gun homicide (instead of suicide).

Marcus
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://redfish.com/pipermail/friam_redfish.com/attachments/20190102/2a074a12/attachment.html>