I just got back from a vacation to Jamaica – go ahead, be jealous.
While there, I learned that Jamaica was recently rated the 3rd happiest nation in the world by the New Economics Foundation. I wondered about the source of the Jamaican happiness and what benefit happiness has for their country. Of course, being an American and a Health Educator I think in terms of economics and health status. But are those things really related to happiness?
Side Note: You may be asking yourself why I care about happiness as a health educator. The simple answer: mental health is part of public health!
The famous rapper, Notorious B.I.G. once penned a song called “Mo Money Mo Problems” (More money, more problems). And in fact, the same “happiness report” from New Economics Foundation found that the richer, more developed countries (e.g. USA and UK) tended to have lower scores on the Happy Planet Index. So perhaps there’s a negative relationship between money and happiness such that as money increases, happiness decreases?
Or perhaps this report is completely bogus since happiness is culturally defined? How do you control for cultures in which optimism and happy-go-luckiness are cultural norms?
On the health side of things, how do you treat diseases in a country where the motto is “No Problem!”? Is ignorance truly bliss?
On the flip side, the American health care system has created a culture of practicality and bleak outlooks, leading us to think about only about death and not about life.
Perhaps we should adapt an attitude of a “Jamerican,” somewhere between carefree and stark practicality. Perhaps if we take care of our mental health first, everything else will fall into place.
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