A recent Wall Street Journal column reported that the USA was the unhappiest nation on earth; why is this?

Question

As reported in the March 23, 2007 issue of THE WEEK magazine about a Wall Street Journal column reporting that in a study conducted by the World Health Organization and Harvard Medical school, nearly 10% of Americans (that's about 30,000,000 people!) suffer from depression or Bi-polar disorder. This was the highest rate in the world based on their survey of 19 nations. Nigeria, with 0.8%, was the happiest..

What is it about the American citizen's participation in their society that leaves them so depressed and even psychotic?

For "cyphercube": No I haven't been to nigeria but I'm sure the surveyors, WHO and Harvard, were. They did make the observation that Nigeria had a lot of political and ecomomic problems but thought that their high rating was due to: 1. Just having to struggle to survive with no real time to think existentially and 2. having a tradition of families and family values , plus a religion (Tribal though it may be) to give them hope and purpose.

Here in the USA and much of the West a great number of people relegate religion to the realm of delusion.

I "latched onto" this report because I'm very worried about the epidemic of depression and rising teen suicide in our nation. I'm looking for answers.

Answer 1

Most Americans are simply a shadow cast by the mass media. All you have to do is listen to them. Whatever is in the media,that's what they talk about. That or mass entertainment. No doubt they are plagued by a keen sense of unreality and personal worthlessness. Most of them keep their attention directed at all times: tv,radio,cds,movies,friends,job...they never give themselves an unstructured moment - to just think. It can't be fun realizing as they must at some level that they are just a big heap of poorly digested junk information,which is what they are,most of 'em. Of course they're depressed.

Answer 2

I think the reason is because the government/politicians lobbyist are more interested in making money than anything else. They are spending like drunken sailors on Iraq to promote no bid contracts for the likes of Halliburton, Exxon-Mobil and others instead of promoting conservation. They thought it would be a cakewalk to control the oil so they lied about WMD, imminent threat, etc. 50 Million Americans have no health insurance, many living paycheck to paycheck with 3 hour daily commutes in their car because of lack of mass transit options. The only train service in the US, Amtrak, is facing bankruptcy and the Bush Administration has made it clear, they want to force them out of business. More cars = more oil consuming junkies.
Big business has hijacked the political process and candidates are now reciving 10's of millions of dollars two years ahead of the next election so they will have a war chest for smear campaigns and commercials to gain power.
Americans are being diverted by stupid TV shows and news about Britney, Michael Jackson, and other gossip.
Americans are constantly being dumbed down and made to feel inadequte from an onslaught of commercials about consumerism and keeping up with the Joneses.
Trillion dollar debt is crippling the US dollar and making middle class Americans poorer each year while the rich have received massive tax cuts under the Bush Administration.
The rich have gotten richer from the Real Estate Housing bubble and now they have transferred thousands of properties to the poorer class with predatory lending and those people are facing foreclosures at an alarming rate. The rich are enjoying this as they dumped lots of properties and will benefit immensely from the carnage.
Look at the appalling disaster in New Orleans and the slow response by the Bush administration which has now turned into a get richer scheme by the rich as they have displaced many long time residents with speculators who are good at flipping properties.
This is just the tip of the iceberg.

Answer 3

:D 19 nations is not about 10% of all the nations of the world (im including in this calculation people who are not officially a nation but think they are and hence i approximated that there are about 190 nations in the world. im telling you this because a reader must understand where a certain statistical analysis has come from etc before jumping to conclusions about it). so as i was saying, my hunch is that you don't have any particular reason to worry about americans being particularly unhappy 1]because depression is not the only indicator for measuring happiness. political scientists and researchers certainly consider it one of the important indicators but certainly not the "definitive" indicator. other things like human development index, per capita income, labour development indices are considered rather important as well. 2] usually the trend is that in developed countries the figures for the supposedly "depressed" are slightly inflated because not only the people suffering from depression have access to medical facilities, so do the general hypochondriacs both of whom wind up in national statistics. in developed countires on the other hand, these figures are seriously understated simply because of their faulty medical registration system. so from the looks of it, its nearly impossible that this study holds any water at all. nigeria is a poor african nation that is truly struggling to develop its economy and politics and society (and has a rather high mortality rate to HIV if im not mistaken) whereas the USA has a decent economy, some very vibrant politics, higher HDI, better labour conditions, lower mortality etc etc. so i suggest you ask the wall street journal to stop using skewed statistics to prove points that they want to make.
i wish magazines would do their research better :(

Answer 4

Its Gods fault, He created us. Its the Governmets fault, they are all liers and thieves. Its my fault, because I have free will and don't choose to do anything about any of it. I'm Just gonna point my finger and blame, hoping it will all go away.

Well that didn't work so let me find some comfort in some food, drug or emotional addiction.

I hope this answers your question. This is seriously the way I used to think. I'm glad I changed my mind and started doing something with my life. I know I'm not the only one. There are a lot of rehabs and mental hospitals. Not to mention, $4,000,000,000 billion dollars spent on weight loss plans and products every year that don't work. Changing your thinking is the only thing that can make you happy, And some action toward creating what you truely want.

Answer 5

There may be more than the four reasons that I am about to give, but I think these four have something to do with it.

Commercialism: So many of us want things. A big house. A BMW. A 70 inch big screen. Etc... Don't get me wrong, I'd love to have those things. But people that work to accumulate more and more of that stuff to achieve happiness at some point understand that those things don't really make you happy. Things are great to have, but they lack substance, and substance in relationships, in work, in family and in yourself lead one to have a positive outlook on life.

Indulgence: There is so much in the US to indulge in: Alcohol, sex, food, drugs. I've never known a happy addict. Most, if not all, suffer from some form of depression.

Work too much/Lack of balance: The US worker works more hours than any other worker in the world(www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,545812,00.html)
That means he/she has less time for family. And think about it, most families are two income families. That means children grow up not knowing their parents as well as children in previous generations. Talk about a cause for depression. The work/life balance is severely out of whack in the US and at what cost.

Misguided notion of success: Success in the US is defined as having the most money with the biggest title and the most things. People that live by that notion have an emptiness inside them that they probably don't understand. But that emptiness is a lack substance necessary for a happy life. Success is about doing something bigger than yourself. It is about being a good citizen. It is about doing something for the good of others. If you make money or accumulate things as a result, all the better. But that cannot become the measure of success.

Answer 6

Must be that we can't stand all the freedom.We would like someone to stop us on the road and check our papers, as we travelled all over the 48 contigious states. I seriously doubt that 30,000,000 people actually have bi-polar disease, it is a serious disorder that will wreck both the sufferer and their family. A bad day will get you a script for prozac or one of its cousins, while actual mental disorders are not rare in my opinion it is the most over prescribed condition. Sorry about getting off the question and thinks for letting me vent for a minute.

Answer 7

We live in the DSA, the divided states of America. Where we have the filthy rich and invisible poor. Exporting jobs but the CEO's making a profit.

To sum it all up ... conservative talk radio and the Fox News with their talking arses ...I mean heads. Telling everyone how great it is to be a conservative and how God is on their side in everything they do. And that the liberals are destroying this country by everything they say and do.

I tell you you get the impression that if.. Christ were walking the earth today. He would be white and a member of the republican party...

At least that is what the right wing would have you believe.

Answer 8

When I was a kid I used crayons until they were completely gone, and getting a new box was a special occassion. Maybe Nigerians are better at appreciating what they have. Maybe we have become disconnected with our history, while Nigerians might celebrate their ancestors and family stories and traditions. Maybe people aren't connected enough to nature, or quiet or not time for reflection. Maybe we are all overly medicated legally or illegally. I've been selling on internet for short time, all scams have been from Nigeria. Might be happiest, but not very nice.

Answer 9

We have forgotten that Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. We need to remember the order of importance in our lives...it should be God and others first, ourselves last. The U.S. is the "me first" generation. There is too much GREED in this country. This includes our corrupt government. We have also forgotten how important the family unit is. Look how many divorces there are now. The breakdown of the family is a very serious problem in the U.S. Other problems include drug and alcohol abuse, which in turn causes depression and other problems. WAKE UP AMERICA before its too late !!!!!!!!!

Answer 10

Because we live in a communist government hiding behind a republic. Look at history Communism dont work the people revolt, Monarchy works for those trapped in the middle ages, republic is one man representing his opinion and views for a nation, Democracy is corrupt but has a solid foundation that has been long forgotten. So to answer your question anarchy is the only good political move. At least anarchy doesn;t try to say it is something that its not. Always remember "Don't steal, The government hates compition." We need to march 10 million strong on Washington D.C. and throw the politions and lobbyists on their asses, run them in to France where their weasle kind will be welcome.