Social Impacts on Health

This article brought to light subjects that I had never really thought in-depth about. The opening statistics and scenario about Rockdale County was quite concerning. The fact that so many individuals of the teenage population were not only engaging in unprotected sex but also managing to catch syphilis - at such high percentages - was shocking. It made sense when they mentioned concepts such as the more partners one had, the more at risk they were for catching an STD; additionally, it wasn't surprising that the spread was more concentrated in the center of the circle. But what I found really interesting about this section was the concept of the ties and how they affect the spread of STDs. When the article discussed the fact that if Person A and Person B were both three jumps away from the person infected, if Person A removed a tie they would still run the risk of getting it, whereas if Person B did they would not be at risk.
The second portion of the article, dealing with weight, somewhat surprised me. In class, we have discussed how if one's partner is healthy, the individual tends to be healthy as well. But I wouldn't have thought that other people (whom the individual wasn't attached to in any way) would also have an effect on their eating habits. I found it really interesting when the section talked about Farmington and the study they had done there. I never would have thought about the fact that researchers could construct a social network on paper and have that be accurate - it just seems out of the norm as far as my research knowledge goes. The fact that they then looked at if people were mutual friends or not and then gauged weight gain based on that was very interesting. After thinking of it in that perspective, the fact that individuals influence each other's' weight makes sense - hanging out with my more athletic and health-conscious friends causes me to worry more about what I am eating than if we are all hanging out eating a pizza. Possibly the most interesting part of the section was when it explained the concept of behavioral imitation and contagious yawning and laughter. Why yawning is "contagious" has always been something I was interested in knowing, so it was interesting to note that it was due to social standards.
The next section discussed drinking and smoking, and here I was a bit more skeptical in their claim that this was affected by your friends. While weight gain is something I can see as being an unconscious behavior (simply eating more/unhealthily without realizing it), smoking or drinking isn't something you just do unconsciously. I personally feel that, although there certainly is a correlation between who you hang out with and the likelihood of you doing these activities, I believe that this is more of a situation that after you've begun, it's easier to associate yourself with people who do the same activities as you do.
I found the portion regarding suicide really sad. I was extremely surprised when the article said that hearing the more emotionally charged television report made people more inclined to attempt suicide - I would think that suicide would be a non-socially impacted occurrence.
I found the final section of the reading to be a very impactful way to end the section. "Particularly in the United States, we are accustomed to seeing our destinies as largely in our own hands: we "pull ourselves up by our bootstraps" and believe that "anyone can strike it rich." We see our society as a meritocracy that rewards sound choices and creates opportunities for the well prepared." This thought process is very much so true in the United States...and this article was an interesting read as it disputed these common American ideals in all ways.