Seattle is not that depressed!

I just want to point something out here, because people like to latch onto their catchphrases without ever questioning their validity.

One day I would like to move to Seattle, It's been a dream of mine ever since I was about 14 when my parents took me there for summer vacation. I've since been back several times and have enjoyed each visit thoroughly. My wife and I also enjoy backpacking in the Olympic National Park.

Whenever I mention that I'm one day going to end up in Seattle, almost without fail I get the response "Seattle has the highest suicide rate in the nation, are you sure you want to live there?" For awhile my reaction to this was, that while it may be true for a lot of people that the constantly overcast skies and rain, would cause them to be depressed, I wouldn't be that way. I enjoy overcast and rainy days, while others call them gloomy I call them amazing!

Another example: I just recently moved from Phoenix AZ to Boulder CO, and I kept hearing people say that it's actually dryer here then in Phoenix. I was amazed at peoples audacity to think such a thing. There's absolutely no way it's dryer here then Phoenix.

So this made me question the whole Seattle suicide rate thing, and as it turns out, Seattle doesn't have the highest suicide rate, nor does it have the highest depression rate, WTF man! Washington rates in at #23. and Seattle doesn't even make the top 10 cities. I just think people like to sound smart by regurgitating what others have said. I've spent about 2min Googling this subject and so I'm by no means the definitive end to this study. I didn't go out of my way to find facts that support my theory, I simply used the top 2 Google results I found. Anybody could have done the same.

I admit that this is just a pet peeve of mine, and I'm mostly sensitive to it because I really do like Seattle. Hopefully I can apply this experience to other areas of my life, and stop assuming so much!