Divorce or Separation May Be Worse for Child Happiness Than Poverty

Ingmar Bergman's Scenes from a Marriage.
From An opinion on film.

Today The Daily Mail reports on something that you may already suspect:  divorce or separation of parents has a more negative effect on children's life satisfaction than poverty. This information comes from a new survey by the Understanding Society, a British government-funded organization.

Initial findings show that British children rank lower in overall life satisfaction than children in other developed countries. Parental happiness plays a big role in how happy they feel. They also experience a higher prevalence of bullying than children in the United States.

The researchers interviewed 34,500 people, including 2,000 children between 10 and 15 years old. The organization hopes to survey around 100,000 people every year to gain a deeper understanding of issues such as health, crime, finances, and work.

Professor Nick Buck, the director of Understanding Society, says, "We are collecting a much richer set of data than the national census, for instance, and I think this is going to lead to a major change in the way social research is performed, to understand how individual wellbeing and happiness is developed, and how behavior impacts on later outcomes."

SPECIAL REPORT: Downtown Independent Screening

It's been awhile since I've done one of these, partly because they always seem to go well, so it gets repetitive, but also because I haven't been to one in awhile. Also, theaters are dark places, so my pictures don't turn out as often as I'd hope, except when I take pictures of hallways for some reason.

Anyway, as usual The HAPPY Movie had a SOLD OUT screening, this time at the fantastic Downtown Independent theater. I've never been there before, but I may start going regularly because they have an excellent facility, an incredible staff, and great taste in movies. This screening also featured special guests Darlene Mininni, author of The Emotional Toolkit, and Mark Adler, composer for the film.

We'd also like to give a HUGE thanks to Project Fresh for making it all happen! Couldn't have done it without you!

I'll let the pictures do the rest of the talking (click for bigger versions):

The stage.

Roko introducing the movie in front of an outdated ad of Carlos for some reason. (Carlos is excellent, by the way. You should see it, but the long version is five hours long.)

Roko doing the Q&A with Mark and Darlene after the movie.

The packed audience. Some people sat on the stairs.

Mark Adler talking about his composing methods.

The lobby area reception after the Q&A.

A view from the roof of the theater. Looking at the interesting parking garage across the street.

And now some artsy shots of lights and hallways and stuff. Hopefully they'll expand your mind or something:

Britain Starts Their Happiness Survey

Prime Minister David Cameron and an anonymous dog.
From Green Consultancy.

Yes, as reported back in November, Britain plans to focus on the wellbeing of its citizens. Well, now The Telegraph reports that the nation's first official happiness survey is afoot. This first batch will cover 200,000 people over the age of 16, asking them to rate themselves on the following questions on a scale of 0 to 10:

• Overall, how satisfied are you with your life nowadays?
• Overall, how happy did you feel yesterday?
• Overall, how anxious did you feel yesterday?
• Overall, to what extent do you feel the things you do in your life are worthwhile?

Future questions will probably focus on more specific areas, such as the state of their marriage, friendships, and health. Paul Allin, head of the wellbeing project, expects the large sample size to rule out most dishonest answers, saying, "We essentially trust people to give us the answers they give us and we will work what they say."

The whole initiative comes from Prime Minister David Cameron's belief that governments play a role in helping their citizens "feel better." It is run by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and has a current budget of £2 million a year. Previous surveys show that Britain's life satisfaction has failed to keep up with its GDP over the last 40 years.

Lifestyle Changes May Treat Depression as Effectively as Drugs and Counseling

From Layout Sparks wallpapers.

According to this story from Medical News Today, simple lifestyle additions like exercise, nature walks, and generosity may be just as effective as drugs and therapy for treating some mental illnesses. This information comes from a paper in the January issue of American Psychologist, the American Psychological Association's (APA) flagship journal.

The paper, authored by Dr. Roger Walsh of the University of California Irvine, reviews previous research on what he calls "therapeutic lifestyle changes" (or TLCs). Examples of TLCs include exercise, nutrition, social connection, recreation, relaxation, spiritual involvement, spending time in nature, and service to others. He says, "Lifestyle changes can offer significant therapeutic advantages for patients, therapists, and societies, yet are insufficiently appreciated, taught or utilized. In the 21st century, therapeutic lifestyles may need to be a central focus of mental, medical and public health."

Some highlights from Dr. Walsh's findings (which you may have already heard about in other contexts) include:

• Exercise helps reduce anxiety and depression, yet also improves kids' school grades, reduces age-related memory loss, and increases neurogenesis.
• Eating fruits, vegetables, and fish may reduce the symptoms of affective and schizophrenic disorders.
• Altruism can give you a "helper's high" (or "giver's high") that carries numerous physical and mental benefits.

There are a lot more, so read the actual story to see them all. A lot of this stuff may be common sense, but it's nice to have it in one place. So if you or someone you know is going through depression or a similar mental illness, try some of these lifestyle changes before spending too much money on drugs or counseling. You'll always have those more conventional methods to fall back on, and it doesn't hurt to try!

Fake Smiles Can Apparently Make You Depressed

BBC's "Spot the Fake Smile" test. From Greg Hughes.

Do you often try to smile, even when you're not happy? According to this story from The New York Times, you may actually be worsening your mood. This information comes from a study in the Academy of Management Journal, wherein researchers examined a group of bus drivers for two weeks. Why bus drivers? Because they often smile whenever a passenger gets on their bus, which theoretically gave researchers a large data set.

The study found a difference between "surface acting," or fake smiling, and "deep acting," which is a technique of using positive thoughts or memories to bring out real smiles (similar to method acting, I guess). The researchers had the bus drivers alternate between surface acting and deep acting on different days. On days when the drivers surface acted, they tended to become depressed and withdrawn from work. On days when they deep acted, their moods became more positive and their productivity increased.

These differences in technique affected women more than they did men. Dr. Brent Scott, an assistant professor at the University of Michigan and co-author of the study, suspects that cultural norms are to blame. He says that women are socialized to be more emotionally expressive, so hiding their emotions may strain them more.

So the lesson here might be to avoid smiling when you're not feeling it. Instead, try to recall enough positive feelings that your smile comes naturally.

By the way, want to know which of your friends are genuinely happy and which ones are secretly wallowing in an existential morass of boredom and contempt, hidden only by a plastered-on contraction of facial muscles and teeth that they think will dull the pain, but in fact only pulls them deeper down the gaping hole of self-pity that they call life? Then head over to BBC's Spot the Fake Smile test! It only takes a minute or two, and you may not be as good as you think. I scored 16 out of 20! See if you can beat that!

China May Start Caring About Happiness

Well, that was easy! Everyone in China is already happy,
if this 100%-accurate portrait is any indication.
From Cultural Revolution Artifacts.

Here in America, today is Presidents Day, but for our Chinese friends on the other side of the world, it is the start of a new five-year plan. According to this story from China.org.cn, Chinese leaders may start prioritizing the happiness of its citizens. However, before you start thinking this will turn into a Bhutan-like Gross National Happiness program, it seems that the Chinese system will be much more focused on economic measures.

For instance, instead of emphasizing the measurement of happiness, Beijing plans to lower its GDP by one percent and raise income for its residents by two percent. Other cities will go through similar adjustments, and social security programs will also be revamped. Shanxi Province in northern China plans to add freelance, migrant workers, and farmers to its social security network, and Shandong Province will aid disadvantaged residents when prices rise. Other provinces also want to improve their social services while lowering GDP.

These policies act as a response to survey results that show citizens believe economic issues to be most important. Out of 11,519 respondents, around 30% believe "economic status," "quality of life," and "public services" are the three primary factors in their happiness.

(Remember to click my Gross National Happiness tag to read what other countries are doing with regards to happiness.)

Casual Friday: The Blog Turns 100! And SPECIAL REPORT on the Roxie

Here's a photo of the blog today. From Trustar Vibrations.

Yay! Today the blog turns 100! Well, not 100 YEARS old, but 100 POSTS. Yes, this is my 100th post here, and I intend to use it in the laziest way possible.

If you don't want to be as lazy as me, go to San Francisco tomorrow. Why? Because you can see a "sneak-preview" screening of the documentary HAPPY at the Roxie Theater at 7:00 pm. Director Roko Belic will be there, and so will Melissa Moody, one of the people featured in the movie. They will hold a Q&A session after the film.

Tickets are $10, or $6 for seniors. You can order online or see more info at the Roxie website. You can also pay at the box office. As this is a non-profit, fully independent film, proceeds go toward a proper theatrical release (expensive costs borne by a movie studio or distributor on most films).

Remember:  Tomorrow, February 19, 7 pm, at this address:

Roxie Theater
3117 16th Street
San Francisco, CA 94110
(415) 863-1087

Hope you can make it!