In the 1992-2019 Great Smoky Mountains Study (2020), a team of developmental psychologists led by William Copeland assessed “despair” up to 11 times among 1,420 Southeastern, white, Black, and American Indian rural and urban youth at 9, 11, and 13 years of age through 30 years of age. Their “despair scale” was based on the following seven indicators: feeling hopeless, having low self-esteem, feeling unloved, loneliness, helplessness, feeling sorry for oneself, worrying frequently.

The study demonstrated the link between despair and patterns of substance abuse, suicidal thoughts and behavior. Studies like these help shift the focus from private narratives of shame to public conversation and solutions. We acknowledge an epidemic of despair. When we look at statistics, we can feel overwhelmed at the scale of the problem -- and large-scale solutions are in fact necessary -- but at the same time organizations like N4 can target solutions that begin one relationship at a time.