Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Prozak

I don't know if you were just joking, but it's partially true.


Non-Hispanic white persons are more likely to take antidepressant medication than persons of other races and ethnicities-

http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db76.htm

Trust me- from someone who's been on it in the past- it does not mask everything and turn you into some abnormally carefree and happy person.

I'm white and do not feel like the white people I know or work with are any more pleasant or happy. I would say the happiest groups seems to be Hispanic people, maybe followed by black people.

Anonymous wrote:Prozak

I don't know if you were just joking, but it's partially true.


Non-Hispanic white persons are more likely to take antidepressant medication than persons of other races and ethnicities-

http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db76.htm

Anonymous wrote:We are taught to put on a pleasant face. Our problems are nobody's business but our own and we want others to have a positive first impression of us.

I think this plays a part - many of us are taught to always be pleasant. I'm sure there are genuinely carefree and happy people out there as well!

Prozak

This doesn't explain it all by any means but it could be one aspect of it, given that DC area whites are more likely to be middle and upper income:

Black Wealth/White Wealth: a New Perspective on Inequality by Oliver and Shapiro

http://www.amazon.com/Black-Wealth-White-Perspective-Inequality/dp/0415951666/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1345047360&sr=8-1&keywords=black+wealth+white+wealth

The suicide rates of whites are second only to the suicide rates of Native Americans:
http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/suicide/statistics/rates02.html

14% of non-Hispanic white people take antidepressants compares with just 4% of non-Hispanic blacks and 3% of Mexican Americans:
http://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/astounding-increase-in-antidepressant-use-by-americans-201110203624

Black women are significantly less likely to be diagnosed with emotional disorders than their white counterparts, may be due to black women having better support networks than others (black women do have the lowest suicide rate in the US):
http://news.ufl.edu/1998/07/15/ethnic/

Anonymous wrote:Which ethnicity are you, OP?

OP here. I am mixed ethnicity (black and white). Raised by black widowed mom. My father died when I was young.

We are taught to put on a pleasant face. Our problems are nobody's business but our own and we want others to have a positive first impression of us.

really? around DC? a lot of the white people I meet are crabby and grouchy.

Huh?

I'm white. I'm not happy or care free. I wish I was.

Because us whiteys have all of the advantages. It is like a secret club. Didn't you see that SNL skit that Eddie Murphy did way back when?

Which ethnicity are you, OP?

I find that I am always so tense and wrapped up in day to day activities just to make end's meet and secure myself and my child's future.

I find that most of the White people that I meet however have this carefree happy go lucky personality/attitude about life.

How come you all are able to be so happy most of the time?

Is there anything that I can do in my own life to be happy like you?