Topic > The Wasted Feelings of Happiness and Success in Western Countries

Happiness can also be called "life satisfaction", it is a human being's general feeling about life and how satisfied he or she is with its progress. Many factors influence life satisfaction in different fields, including work, relationships with family, loved one and friends, individual development, health and others. This essay on happiness and success will analyze the reasons why Westerners have become less happy than before, including lack of self-esteem, stress resulting from the pursuit of success, increased rates of addictions such as drugs and gambling. 'gambling and more communication online less face to face (communication in real life). For each problem, the essay will provide individual and government solutions, such as volunteering, enjoying the happiness derived from absolute success and wealth, applying harsher punishments and strengthening drug control propaganda and preventive education, and using less digital media . communication activities in the community. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Although the latest World Happiness Ranking by Helliwell, Huang & Wang shows that, almost all of the top 20 locations are Western countries, but Canada has dropped from fifth to ninth place while America has dropped from 11th ° to 19th. Some residents in Western countries report lower levels of life satisfaction and happiness than they did generations ago. Starting with the lack of self-esteem, which influences the level of well-being. Happiness does not depend only on the economy, that is, rich does not mean happiness. In Western countries, people generally earn more money than they need for basic living. Despite great material satisfaction, people feel depressed when they are tired of everyday life and life seems to have neither purpose nor meaning. In other words, this is a lack of self-esteem. Self-esteem is an evaluation of individual worth as a subjective feeling about oneself. Neff's research has found that self-esteem is linked to well-being. High self-esteem not only makes people feel good, but also promotes long-term happiness. Volunteering can be a solution to this problem, that is, volunteer jobs bring fun and friends, make people happy and being a volunteer. define purpose and meaning for life, healthy self-esteem and discover the value of life. A study by Whillans et al., found that volunteer work can help reduce depression and increase life satisfaction. Previous Lawton, Moss, Winter, and Hoffman research also finds that the attitude and behavior of helping people benefits life outcome and increases the level of life satisfaction. Therefore, volunteering can probably help young Westerners who have low self-esteem to feel good and evaluate themselves positively. The ultimate goal is to improve their happiness. The second effect that has caused less happiness in Western nations is the stress resulting from the pursuit of success and wealth. In developed countries, while the economy is developing at a high level, data collected by America Oishi et al., showed that high incomes do not equate to greater happiness. People can be unhappy in perfect conditions because they want more than their parents' generation and always aim to maintain an achievement. Another study by Borrero, Escobar, Cortés and Maya states that when primary needs are satisfied, people's requirements become of a higher order and people becomethey are concerned about maintaining their results. Happiness researchers Cammeron have found that this is a type of conventional thinking and symptomatic of a flawed approach to happiness. As a result, increased pressure from ambition is the only thing that makes people unhappy. For example, Dan White (founder of social enterprise Ninety) and Sebastien Bras (owner of a three-Michelin-star restaurant in France) report feeling stressed but unhappy about their success. To reduce stress resulting from ambitions, people should try to repress free-spirited desires, enjoying the happiness derived from particular success and wealth uncontrolled by it. Bras, owner of a three-star Michelin restaurant in France, has asked to remove his restaurant from Michelin's list of three most honorable stars. He published his decision on Facebook: 'we want to be free spirits, continue the adventure peacefully, without tension'. He freed himself from the framework of success and returned to life healthy and free. The result is more happiness and more time to spend with family. Another negative effect on happiness in Western countries is the increase in addictions such as drugs, gambling and others. From the data of the Sussman research it emerges that, in America, approximately 7% of young people smoke marijuana; approximately 8% of older adolescents abuse other illegal drugs; 1-3% of American adults gamble. Sussman estimates that the total number of people suffering from addiction in the United States is about one in two. Columbia University economist Jeffrey Sachs wrote that the United States is "a society of mass dependency" in the recent World Happiness Report. Sachs believes that these addictions cause significant unhappiness and even depression. To solve this serious problem, the role of government is extremely significant. The government should focus more on reducing illegal drugs and gambling, for example by toughening punishments for those who trade or transport drugs, strengthening propaganda and preventive education on drug and gambling control, improving continuously improve the anti-drug capacity of the public, especially students, and effectively improve the relevance and effectiveness of drug prevention education. The New Zealand government is a useful model for this solution: according to “The wellbeing budget,” the government will invest approximately $213.1 million in a more than four-year project to strengthen addiction treatment services. The Government supports the Te Ara Oranga program in Northland, which helps people addicted to drugs. Finally, more online communication and less face-to-face (real-life communication) contributes to the low level of happiness in Western nations. With the development of new computer technology in developed countries, communication between modern people has become more complex. People have less emotional communication than before, especially the younger generations like to enjoy their space through the Internet and social media. A study conducted by a Canadian university stated that the use of social media by young people has increased significantly and that young people are spending more and more time on social media. Face-to-face communication is replaced by network communication. According to research by Twenge, people who spend more time on social media and internet gaming are more likely to be depressed than those who don't use the internet. Compared to previous generations, newer young people derive less happiness from real-life communication. The likely solution to the final problem is a minor