UK Ranked Second Most Miserable Country in the World
In the News
If this had been the Eurovision Song Contest i would be whooping with joy , unfortunately it isn't
We have been voted the second most miserable country in the world
We were just one point behind the first, that being Uzbekistan , wow !
The survey was from Sapien Labs’ Mental State of the Year report where 500,000 people were surveyed from 71 countries and were asked to complete an online questionnaire known as the Mental Health Quotient (MHQ)
According to psychotherapist and author Eloise Skinner there are multiple factors leading to our lack of happiness right now. to quote
"Along with all of the practical factors (cost of living crisis, environmental anxiety, political and global concerns), we might also feel a general sense of uncertainty about where things are headed," she explains.
I remember the days we were just miserable because of the weather , now it so much more complicated
To be fair the cost of living here and weather being rubbish isn't a surprise really
Many UK people do seem to like to dwell on the negative and complain a lot hence why the Australians call us 'Whinging Poms'. There are people in far worse financial positions with corrupt governments and wars going on who have lost family members etc who seem to be more positive. There are people in Africa who will struggle to reach 40 who seem capable of smiling more than us.
I live in a lovely part of the UK, the supermarkets are full of food, there is beautiful countryside and a lot to see and do and I'm relatively safe compared to many countries. Even with our economic issues there is a lot to be positive about. However saying that because I no longer have a TV license and don't have access to live TV I miss out on a lot of negative news and on websites I cherry pick the news that interests me rather than read all the negative news. I feel my mental health has improved since stopping my TV license.
BonzoBanana I agree - dwelling on the negative and complaining a lot seems commonplace in the UK 
telmel Also I think the UK is getting poorer so people have a decline in their living standards, those standards may still be good compared to most places in the world but its still a decline and I feel the fact they are declining is depressing compared to those who have lived with those living standards for a long time who just find it normal.
BonzoBanana You can see the evidence this is happening with the amount of people visiting food banks B , even people that work are going there because they cannot afford to pay their bills or feed their families
telmel Yes it is a horrible situation but always stunned how much money people waste and how carefree they import products doing damage to our economy. I saw a video where a woman was going to a food bank because she had about £2.5k of monthly outgoings of which £900 I think was her rent and then I guess council tax and energy costs on top but still £2.5k!
She needed a net wage of £30k a year or maybe £35k gross to just pay her standard bills. Just seemed a huge amount to me. Yes she had kids and I think she was a single mother but without knowing the full details £2.5k seems excessive and the journalist reporting it seemed to think that was a ok amount for outgoings. The minimum wage is something like £10 so £400 for a 40hr week or about £20k a year and a huge amount of people are on the minimum wage with less than 40hrs work a week. Yes people unemployed and on benefits should have the right to go to food banks but people clueless about their finances and spending too much shouldn't be in my opinion. Also some of the people donating to food banks are poor but very decent people. They are basically subsidising the spending habits of much richer people than themselves which I find annoying. Netflix, an expensive phone and phone contract and having a very well heated home is not a necessity. You live within your means.
BonzoBanana Some good points there B, some people will abuse the food banks generosity , i have no doubt, and this can spoil it for the genuine poverty cases
This is a very difficult area to police unfortunately , so the food banks end up giving people the benefit of the doubt even if they think some don't need it
Not at all surprised but feel probably other countries have greater cause to be miserable. 500,000 sounds a lot but those people must have been thinly spread around the world.
Well it is true, country is miserable for a lot of reasons and it ain't going to change anytime soon
We have it relatively easy compared to most countries but still seem to be unhappy. It’s a shame
Is that why so many come illegally?? Please tell the world this, that might stop the flow!!!!!!
Maybe those taking part in the survey, thought it was like a cry for help for patients on a waiting list for mental health support. Lets face it, the ads on tv/radio are saying it's ok to talk. But there a long waiting lists for support/ professionals to talk to. Is that down to the cost of living crisis, the recession we are in?
Yes it’s quite miserable with the weather and everything else cost of living, over populated, no police stopping crime, nhs waiting etc. However, our country is not at war (yet) like many others across the world at the moment. Count the blessings. I am not watching the wars on the news. It’s horrible and nothing I can do so to protect my own health I watch lighthearted things.
JLouM The biggest problem is because the UK is supporting the Ukraine Putin and his generals have already said the UK will suffer dire consequences and we will be wiped off the the face of the earth if we continue to support the Ukraine
Note he did not threaten the USA who is the mouthpiece for the UK as they have enough nuclear weapons to retaliate against him
They consider the UK as a puppet for the USA and a weak nation that they don't have to worry about
So depite not being at war we are still a target for a madman
Im not convinced we deserved to be the second most miserable in the world, as life in many places is considerably worse than here, but its definitely getting worse each year, especially the last few years.
Media has to whip people into frenzy by whatever garbbage they can make up inorder to make money. Guess this article shows they are doing fine.
500,000 people per country isn’t really fair. Surely they should have done a percentage per country cause 500,000/67m (U.K.) is less representative (0.7%) that 500,000/35m (Uzbekistan - 1.4%) and 500,000/332m (USA - 0.15%) is not representative at all
Really bad for a study
Not surprised! I feel like people here just get more rude by the day. I would rather live in Holland, the Dutch are so lovely.
Not a surprise. My sunny disposition is often sucked out of me by the local dementors. We don't know how to have joy in what we have...
I'm really not surprised. Nearly everyone is miserable and some for such stupid reasons.
It's so miserable that almost everyone tries to get in to the U.K. (and the U.S., and other Western countries).
Bored and unhappy, huh?
This guy snitched on himself and was then shocked he'll be deported from the U.S.
Talks about people being evil, but he's the one who bragged about trespassing, invading, and taking ownership of houses that he didn't own.
This Brazilian woman said she only got the Portuguese citizenship due to the benefits and didn't even have to learn their language:
These people forget one thing, this all just adds fuel to the fire of illegal mass migration. It's not as if they're even hiding, heck, they brag about it!
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