In 2022/23 the average sense of well-being in the UK had still not returned to its pre-Covid levels. During the previous year our happiness, overall life-satisfaction, and feeling that our activities are worthwhile had crept up a bit, but now they have slumped again, while anxiety has increased.
The average ratings were:
• 7.45 out of 10 for life satisfaction (7.54 in the previous year)
• 7.73 out of 10 for feeling that the things done in life are worthwhile (7.77 in the previous year)
• 7.39 out of 10 for happiness yesterday (7.45 in the previous year)
• 3.23 out of 10 for anxiety yesterday (3.12 in the previous year).
None of this is surprising. This was the year of the Partygate scandal, when we had three Prime Ministers, one of whom lasted only 49 days. Inflation was soaring and we were heading for recession; and both climate disaster and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine appeared to be unstoppable. For the first time in 60 years World War III seemed like a distinct possibility. Russia experts were telling us that Putin might try to deter NATO by firing a small nuclear missile into the North Sea. No wonder we were anxious.
Jonathan Glazer’s new film Zone of Interest, set in a sunlit garden next to the camp at Auschwitz, warns us about shutting our eyes and ears to the horrors being perpetrated on our own doorsteps. This message was chillingly expressed. But is it necessary to go to war to prevent atrocities like these? And if we refuse to take that dreadful step, how do we deal with the helplessness we feel in the face of Putin’s outrages? To all of this we now have to add the horrific onslaught on Gaza. In my lifetime I’ve seen nothing quite as bleak as the current world picture.
To be pursuing happiness at this juncture seems to be definitely beside the point.
sue blundell on happiness 