One of the the many tools Google possesses in its arsenal is Google Trends. An insightful tool that allows you compare search volume traffic among a set of search terms. I regularly use it to compare societal trends with keywords targeted by my SEO clients. Comparing single keywords produces the most interesting results because they have higher search volume, but insufficient data is often the case for two and three search term combinations.

In one of my wandering forays into Google Trends, I thought it would be useful to see my keywords against search volume for “economy.” The number of times people searched using economy seemed to be a barometer for societal and individual health. Under the assumption that people search for topics related to the economy more often when the economy is perceived to be not doing well, striking relations become apparent between the economy, drug use, alcohol, and violence.

To test my theory a bit further, I chose “vacation” as a positive word to contrast the set of negative search terms. Just as revealing as before, when people are searching less for vacations, searches for drugs, alcohol, and violence increase.

NRA-loving, gun fanatics will be pleased to know that the search for guns is greater when people are search more for economy. In-line with search fluctuations in economy and guns is, of course, stress. What a surprise, with tough economic times, stress builds, less vacations (or no vacations) can be taken, drug and alcohol use rises, and ultimately violence increases.

Mental health is equally important as physical health. Judging by the hot topic nature of our current economy, we as a people may not be safe from its impact on individual lives and how they may adversely affect those around them.

Summer is drawing to an end down here in Florida. Might be a good time to blow off some steam and take a vacation. Stop violence, take a vacation.