To think most people don’t seem happy these days

[Babyitaintovertilitsover]

Just genuinely happy, like lots used to be

I feel like most people I know are not truly happy, they can laugh or smile at times, but something just isn’t right…am I imagining this? I don’t remember it being like that pre covid

I totally agree with this unfortunately. What’s the point? I do think living in the UK is a factor - grim weather, everything is ridiculously expensive, NHS on its knees, prisons full to the brim, housing crisis. I’ll definitely be encouraging my kids to move abroad when they are older.

I think it takes effort to be happy, just like anything else that you want. It is not just presented to you. I think happy is also an internal thing. I've made lots of effort to manage my mental health and anxiety, and now that it is, I feel happier.

I've lived in other countries and I think the UK is a bit of a nightmare to live in TBH. It costs a fortune, there isn't anything to do that doesn't cost money, the taxes are high, bills are massive, mortgages/rent are high and we pay more for things than other countries do. Our lives are a cycle of get up early, commute, work long hours, commute back, repeat. People don't seem to have many hobbies, and they don't have family bonds like other cultures do. Our media is a negative loop and it all adds up to making people really miserable. Our people have no end of illnesses clogging up the NHS which are stress related.

I'm on a course at the moment about stress. I'm not necessarily in a bad place, but I'm always looking at ways to keep it down. It is a constant work in progress.

I feel happier as I get older as I give less of a shit, and I'm doing what I want to do, not what anyone else wants me to do. I try not to listen to the news, and get involved in bullshit. I have thought long and hard about who I love and care about and I just focus on them.

Nobody is really happy at this point in time. There's too much poverty, inequality, war, pain, illness, greed, pollution, lack of ambition, depression in this world.
But maybe it's just because it's Monday morning.

I think the NHS falling apart is a massive factor, I have so many little niggly things that make life materially worse and I’m waiting for investigations. I’m generally healthy overall, none of this is life threatening but it wears you down. Put that over a whole population and no wonder everyone is depressed!

@BobbyBiscuits not just Monday - it is cool damp, 7deg, cloudy grey sky, we
can near the Monday morning roar of traffic on the A road, headed for the motorway, birds chirping, refuse lorry, usual Monday morning gearing up sounds.
You paint a gloomy picture.
We will all feel better when the sun appears, warms us, vitamin D, turn our heating off at last, when May and June gardens delight us, butterflies, bumble bees, hollyhocks, when in warmth and sun, living is easier.
Many of the situations you list we can do nothing about, constructively.
We wake up every morning in a first world, tolerant, beautiful country, a temperate climate, world renowned culture, art, music, literature, architecture, humour,
a (mostly) civilised Island/s with much to be thankful, wherever we live, we are here!

I'd agree people are finding it harder.

1. I think COVID made people reassess their lives and be less accepting and accommodating of others. More selfish. If everyone is (or a higher percentage of people are) selfish then society can't function in the same way it did before.

1. The weather plays a massive part and that's on us - climate change means longer and harsher and wetter winters. Particularly this year when we are yet to have a summer really. Warm springs mean people get into gardens, plant flowers which uplift moods.

That said, some things haven't changed. There has always been a divide between rich and poor at certain times in an economic cycle. The gap narrows, and widens and repeat. However, social media and the openness of people to outwardly discuss their emotions and mental health then impacts others who are drawn down into the negative spiral.

In 30 years time, sociologists are going to have a field day.

I am not saying things aren't bad in the UK, but things are bad almost everywhere. Some of my friends and family in Asia are experiencing 40 degree heat, with people dying of heat stroke. That's grim weather for you! Which puts the endless rain here in perspective.
Meanwhile the ones in the US worry about guns.

This might have improved your life for you, but do you think your behaviour makes your friends, relatives and colleagues and others around you feel happier, good about themselves and more connected? Probably not.

And that's part of what's gone wrong in the world: too many people only out for themselves.

Also Brexit, Covid, cost of living, phones to some extent and people not bothering to connect with life in person - but mainly this shitty awful government and all the division they have caused.

Yanbu but we all voted for this shit show so we should not be surprised.

Agree op and the weather doesn't help either.

@Countrydiary - I prescribe a large dose of sunshine, weeks on end,
whole body exposure when appropriate and available, apply sparingly
during midday, increase hydration, efficacy of prescription more apparent
during summer months, apply subtle pressure with NHS representative
for a satisfactory resolution.

Exactly this.

I think we are in an age where it is socially unacceptable to say you are happy or doing okay. Not everyone is struggling to make ends meet. Lots of people have things to look forward to.

Misery does love company and is contagious. So you end up with people who, objectively, have nothing to be miserable about being infected with the same malaise.

Many of us didn’t vote for this, and we loathe all the people who did.

Politicians destroyed our lives. Expect higher taxes to come, more uncertainty and instability. Nothing will improve until we get rid of the current political class.

Covid, Cost of living crisis, Brexit, awful government, lots of bad weather this year, wages not rising to keep pace with inflation, stretched NHS services, unreliable trains...

The picture is not looking great at the moment for so many people and is causing stress and hopelessness.

'@malificent7
Yanbu but we all voted for this shit show so we should not be surprised.'

I didn't.

I have never voted and will never vote conservative. I was also against Brexit.

There are many more sensible people in this country who could see that a Johnson government and Brexit would bring disaster ...

I've noticed that me and all my friends are all a little weary and run down but I put it down to age. We're all of that perimenopause age, we all have kids that still need us, we all have aging parents with serious health problems.
I've also noticed a general decline in the state of the country which gets me down. The cost of living is another worry.

The Conservative government have done a number on us all. They've worn us down and made us scared and frightened, so we accept what they say and what they have done.

There's certainly a lot of unhappy people on Mumsnet ready to make a complaint about a staff member in the NHS, supermarkets, schools, public transport, volunteers in clubs etc etc. Or to drop a friend or family member because of some small or even imagined slight.

Who ?

The majority of people who voted did not vote conservative yet somehow they have a significant majority

We did not vote them in - the voting system helps them in and they won't change that to something more democratic

I don’t fucking care. Okay, should I still be a walk over, keep quiet to keep other people happy? No thanks, had 40 odd years of that nonsense.

And that’s my point. I cared so much before that I took so much shit.

I’m not horrible. I’m not offensive to anyone. But if say, you were my colleague and you made some quip about my lunch being too big or whatever (which has happened to me), I wouldn’t just smile and take it anymore, I’d tell you to go away, or ask why you cared so much about my lunch.

I took horrible, racist remakes from my in laws for a decade. Sat in silence and cried later, for the sake of keeping the peace. Called them out on it “pil, when you make racist remarks about Indian people, please remember that I am part indian and so are your grandchildren, it’s incredibly hurtful”. Was that put in a way which made them feel bad? No, but now I am the devil. Should have just sat and smiled when they talked about how dirty Indians are, eh?

it’s not about being “out for myself”, I’m just not willing to take on anyone else’s shit.

I’m not scared or frightened, I’m furious. Hang your head in shame if you voted for this.

Sorry that’s a general ‘you’ not directed at you @ssd

Like a PP I also don’t feel joy like I used to. I try to do nice things that are supposed to be enjoyable but I just feel flat.