Unhappy America: Will the United States Collapse Due to an Internal Societal Meltdown?

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Are we witnessing the beginning of the end for the United States of America?
Are we witnessing the beginning of the end for the United States of America? (Flickr/Creative Commons)

Is that a sign of a healthy nation?

At this point, things have gotten so bad that even 70 percent of our pastors are battling depression. The following was authored by respected journalist Jennifer LeClaire:

There is no lack of statistics about pastors and depression, burnout, health, low pay, spirituality, relationships and longevity—and none of them are good. According to the Schaeffer Institute, 70 percent of pastors constantly fight depression, and 71 percent are burned out. Meanwhile, 72 percent of pastors say they only study the Bible when they are preparing for sermons; 80 percent believe pastoral ministry has negatively affected their families; and 70 percent say they don't have a close friend.

The Schaeffer Institute also reports that 80 percent of seminary and Bible school graduates will leave the ministry within five years.

We are a deeply, deeply unhappy nation, and we have been trained to turn to pills as the solution.

According to research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, 59 percent of all U.S. adults are on at least one prescription drug at this point, and 15 percent of all U.S. adults are on at least five prescription drugs.

Those are absolutely astounding numbers to me. We are the most drugged up nation on the face of the planet, and yet we just keep on getting less happy.

Here are some more selected numbers from a previous article that back up that claim.

Back in 1987, 61.1 percent of all Americans reported being happy at work. Today, 52.3 percent of all Americans say that they are unhappy at work.

A different survey found that 70 percent of all Americans do not "feel engaged or inspired at their jobs."

One survey of 50-year-old men in the U.S. found that only 12 percent of them said that they were "very happy."

The number of Americans diagnosed with depression increases by about 20 percent each year.

According to the New York Timesmore than 30 million Americans take antidepressants.

Doctors in the United States write more than 250 million prescriptions for antidepressants each year.

The rate of antidepressant use among middle-aged women is far higher than for the population as a whole. It is hard to believe, but right now one out of every four women in their 40s and 50s is taking an antidepressant medication.

Compared to children in Europe, children in the United States are three times more likely to be prescribed antidepressants.

In America today, there are 60 million people who abuse alcohol, and there are 22 million people who use illegal drugs.

America has the highest rate of illegal drug use on the entire planet.

America has the highest divorce rate in the world by a wide margin.

America has the highest percentage of one-person households on the entire planet.

100 years ago, 4.52 people were living in the average U.S. household, but now the average U.S. household only consists of 2.59 people.

We are more isolated, lonelier and more miserable than we have ever been before.

But does that mean that we are on the verge of collapsing as a nation?

Just like during the days of the Roman Empire, most Americans cannot even conceive of a time when America will be no more. And yet we can all see that the foundations are being constantly chipped away at.

Will we be able to survive once our foundations are totally gone?

Michael Snyder's book entitled "Living A Life That Really Matters" is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com.


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