Editorial: When success feels like stress

The concept of ‘well-being’ captures far more than happiness. It refers to satisfaction with life and not a fleeting moment. It measures how we feel about the future as well as the present, so that even if we are comfortable and content now, we feel secure going forward.

This is why it is important to listen to the alarm bells rung by the recent Well-being Index Project. Instead of patting ourselves on the back because people in Malta feel more satisfied, we need to hear the emotional drumbeat, still slow for now, about the way people feel: more nervous; pressed for time; affected by neighbourhood stress.

Let us take a step back to the World Happiness Index, created by the UN in 2012. Its aim was to stress that the gross domestic product – which measures a country’s wealth – was not the only way to gauge success, that getting richer was not the only Holy Grail.

The World Happiness Index still takes into account things like income but it also introduced the idea of how we see the three years ahead and how satisfied we are with our lives. So far, so good.

Malta is now in 43rd place when it comes to the first measurement and rates very well when it comes to satisfaction with our personal relationships.

Indeed, community is one of the keystones of life on a small island.

We may scoff that it becomes claustrophobic but it matters: 85 per cent of respondents who regularly meet family and friends report higher overall well-being.

So far, so good. But there are worrying signs about how we view our future.

The project in Malta was recently presented to parliament on the International Day of Happiness by a team led by economist Marie Briguglio.

Former president Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca’s speech should resonate within parliament’s halls of power: “Well-being should be placed at the heart of governance, policy and everyday life to ensure our decisions contribute to a society where all individuals can lead fulfilling and dignified lives.”

Some of the results were self-evident: well-being was compromised by hardship, material deprivation and ill health. But what about those who seem to ‘have it all’?

If we scratch beneath the surface of quality of life, we find that emotional well-being declined. More people said they were frequently nervous, lonely, downhearted and depressed. Fewer felt calm and happy.

What could be causing this? Social media has a lot to answer for. Research indicates a strong link with the way the picture painted online undermines our reality, resulting in lower life evaluation and mental anguish. This is not a theoretical battle but one being fought by introducing stricter age limits for social media use.

One of the worst indicators was how satisfied we are with our ability to cope within the time we have available, the lowest-ranked indicator. Despite claims of work/life balance and family-friendly measures, the realities indicate a very different story, especially for single parents and households with two adults and two children. And this is where the difference between economic indicators and well-being comes into its own: time pressure is a worrying trend even among higher-income groups and those with higher levels of education.

There are other issues highlighted by the report that capture the relentless pressures on our lives, from exposure to noise and pollution, to damp walls and leaking roofs, as well as to anxiety about neighbourhood crime.

These may not be the things that political parties want to hear as the election looms but our future will be shaped by our well-being and not only Malta’s economic performance.