Society tends to consider depression to be an isolated and deeply personal experience. Yet in recent studies of global happiness (according to Psychology Today), the United States dropped in the world rankings, with much of the focus on matters of mental health. If you or anyone you know in the West Side Cleveland area are experiencing depression, we’re here to help. Schedule an appointment with us today.
Researchers have long insisted on their correlation—that stress tied to financial insecurity and discrimination correlates closely with depression, for example, while income inequality, another key variable, “is associated with the population prevalence of depression” in findings that are replicated across the developed and developing world.
This year, Finland compelled greater reflection on the relationship between depression and happiness, because the country placed first among indices measuring well-being (including social stability and services; gross domestic product per capita; trust in government and institutions; levels of crime and corruption, and so on) while also ranking second, according to the World Health Organization, in per capita prevalence rates for depressive disorders. Here it follows the United States (ranked significantly lower for happiness, as we might expect), yet Finland’s outsize score for happiness and depression suggests that a country may have a high prevalence of both, and for several reasons.
To its citizens, happiness may mean more than the absence of depression. The forms of comparison that social media intensify may be a further complicating factor, especially if online platforms are used to exaggerate happiness, through ostentatious displays of it (as various commentators point out, though, Finns are not exactly known for the latter).
“While there are significant shortcomings in international comparisons of depression and while other research has estimated that the depression rates of Finland would be closer to the global average,” Frank Martela commented in Scientific American, “what is clear is that Finland is far from the top of the world in preventing depression.”
That treating and combating depression are thought a national responsibility—a matter of public health, social well-being, and government policy—may be striking to American ears. We tend to view the disorder and its treatment in more individualized terms, with responsibility falling largely on the sufferer and a small circle of caregivers.
But just as there are competing perspectives on what causes depression, with emphasis both including and surpassing the brain, so are there different ways to define happiness. As Martela adds, “depending on which one we choose, we get completely different countries at the top of the rankings.” If positive emotion is prized above all else, then, following Gallup data, Latin American countries such as Paraguay, Guatemala, and Costa Rica fill the top rankings and Finland drops significantly. If purpose or meaning in life is felt to be paramount, then Togo and Senegal predominate and Finland and the U.S. lag far behind.
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