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People happiest at start and end of lives, but slump in middle
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Happiness is U-shaped, for we are happier at the start and end of our lives but hit a slump when we are middle-aged, British and US researchers say.
Economists from the University of Warwick, central England, and from Dartmouth College, New Hampshire, looked at data on the mental health of two million people from 80 countries.
In Britain, the probability of depression for men and women peaks at around 44 years of age, Warwick University said in a press release.
In the United States, though, there was a big difference between men and women.
Among women, unhappiness peaked at around the age of 40, whereas among men, it was about 50.
But the U-shape of happiness is constant around the world, and mid-life depression occurs regardless of marital status, changes in job or income.
The study appears in Social Science & Medicine, published by the Dutch publishing house Elsevier.
"It happens to men and women, to single and married people, to rich and poor, and to those with and without children." said co-author Andrew Oswald.
One possibility may be that people realize they won't achieve many of their aspirations at middle age, the researchers said.
Another reason could be that after seeing their fellow middle-aged peers begin to die, people begin to value their own remaining years and embrace life once more.
But the good news is that if people make it to aged 70 and are still physically fit, they are on average as happy and mentally healthy as a 20-year old.
"For the average persons in the modern world, the dip in mental health and happiness comes on slowly, not suddenly in a single year," Oswald said. "Only in their fifties do people emerge from this low period."
(Agencies) |
英美兩國的研究人員稱，人一生的快樂呈U形走向，童年和老年時期最快樂，中年時期處于最低谷。
英格蘭中部沃維克大學和美國新罕布什爾州達特茅斯學院的經濟學家們對80個國家的200萬人的心理健康數據進行了研究分析。
沃維克大學在新聞發布會上說，英國的男性和女性在44歲左右最郁悶。
而在美國，男性和女性則有很大差別。
女性在40歲時最不開心，而男性則在50歲左右。
但從世界范圍看，人們的快樂水平普遍呈U形走向，而且人到中年出現情緒低落與婚姻狀況、工作變化以及收入多少等因素都無關。
研究報告在荷蘭埃爾塞韋爾出版社出版的《社會科學與醫學》上發表。
研究報告撰寫者之一安德魯?奧斯瓦爾德說：“無論男性女性、是否結婚、貧窮還是富裕、有無子女，人人都會遭遇中年時期的低谷。”
研究人員稱，有一種可能是，人到中年后會意識到自己的很多理想已經不可能再實現。
也可能是因為人到中年后目睹了一些同齡人的離世，所以開始珍惜余下的歲月，并再次擁抱生活。
但慶幸的是，如果你到了70歲，身體還很健康，那么你會像20歲時一樣快樂。
奧斯瓦爾德說：“對于現代社會的人們來說，中年的低谷是慢慢到來的，并不是某一年突然發生的。到了50多歲時，人們就能慢慢走出這個低谷了。”
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（英語點津姍姍編輯）
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