I'm not sure if this has anything to do with this but do you guys think that from the way our economy has been lately, and all these huge stores closing down people may resort to drugs. I know a lot of people who resort to drugs when they're really stressed out. And many people are right now because their businesses are going down, they're getting laid off, or they just aren't making money. To cope with all these problems do you think many will turn to hard core drugs, alcohol, or prescription pain medication to numb the stress away?

I think it could be affecting many people in the way you're describing.  But there's no way of knowing such a thing. I think people would resort to all kinds of things, especially alcohol.  I really hope that's not the case however.  The economy is affecting everyone.  Some more so than others, but being depressed and taking a bunch of pills isn't helping anyone.

I once heard that the two things that have an increase when times are tough are alcohol like you said and church attendance. I can see both sides. If you don't care much about what you're drinking you can buy cheap alcohol, but that can be expensive still if you are making it a habit. Church attendance increases because people who don't know what to do turn to God. I see that just in my every day life even when the economy wasn't bad. When people are lost they turn to God for answers. I attend church every week and even I find myself getting closer to God when I'm having a problem.

I can understand people going to church more during these hard times. Everyone spends more time with God when times are ruff and God helps them through it which in turn makes us feel so much closer to God. I wish most people would turn to just that instead of drugs and alcohol that dont help but just numb the pain for a few minutes.

My friends dad is an engineer. A very good one, he's been working for the same company for about 15 years. Well with the economy these days his company isn't doing good and they laid off about half of their employees. His dad was one of them. Now all he does is drink night and day to keep away from the pain that he doesn't have a job. He feels its hopeless to find a new job because no one is hiring and so many people are looking for jobs. I think it's really sad, he's just making his life worse than it already is by drinking his days away.

More and more, mental health professionals say, people are coming in at the end of their rope due to the economy. Hospitals are seeing more cases of substance abuse, depression and suicidal thoughts. Some hospitls are filling up so much that they are having to refer their patients to other hospitals because they dont have enough beds. So this is actually happening. The economy is not only affecting people financially but also emotionally and people are hurting themselves with drugs and alcohol just to numb the pain for a little while.