The Origins of Happiness

Health of Mind and Body

no mental illness, all else constant, the percentage of the

population in misery would be reduced by 2.2% points— a

third of the total in misery (which is 5.6%). Eliminating

most physical illness would have a smaller effect. Eliminat-

ing unemployment, or raising all incomes above the 20th

percentile, would also have much smaller effects than elim-

inating mental illness.

In Australia and Britain the overwhelming importance

of reducing mental illness is equally evident. However a dif-

ferent way to analyze misery is more akin to how we have

analyzed most issues in this book. The question now is not

how do we eliminate misery, but how do we explain its vari-

ance?^10 In other words we calculate β- coefficients. We also

allow income and physical illness to be continuous vari-

ables, and we do the same for mental illness in the BHPS.

The results are in Table 6.2. In all countries, except Australia,

mental illness emerges as the most important explanatory

factor.^11

α- coefficient×

Prevalence

(%) =

α × Prevalence

(% points)

Total in

misery

(% points)

Britain (BHPS)

Poverty (bottom
20%)

0.025 × 20 = 0.50

Unemployed 0.138 × 3.0 = 0.41 9.9

Physical condition
(bottom 20%)

0.056 × 20 = 1.12

Emotional health
symptoms lagged
(bottom 20%)

0.200 × 20 = 4.00