"Opioids may have been the spark, but a spark needs kindling in order to ignite," says Shannon Monnat, associate professor of sociology and Lerner Chair for Public Health Promotion. "This kindling is decades of economic restructuring, rising income inequality, social disconnection and loss of social cohesion, an emphasis on consumption to satisfy us and give our lives meaning, our demand for quick fixes to medical ailments, and an economic regime that emphasizes the market and maximizing shareholder value over collective societal well-being." Read more in the Washington Times article "‘Deaths of despair’ see massive spike in U.S." 05/03/18