Utah is the happiest state in America, study finds
Define happiness.
For many college students, happiness is hanging out with friends, sleeping for one more hour, exercising daily or surviving to payday. Turns out a lot of happy people are living in Utah nowadays, whatever each individual pursuit of happiness may be.
According to a recent WalletHub study, the beehive state was named the happiest state in America in 2016.
To determine which states had the happiest people, analysts considered three key dimensions in their study: emotional and physical well-being, work and community environment. Utah scored number 1 in overall happiness, with Minnesota scoring second and North Dakota in third.
The states ranked last with the unhappiest people were West Virginia, Alabama and Kentucky.
“It is important that students prioritize things in their life that will result in living a happier life. This comes back to students living their life in balance,” said Keri Swallow, a senior majoring in public health and promotion. “As a senior, I feel that it is important for students to realize that the years spent in college only happen once and they will enjoy their college experience a lot more if they find a way to be happy in their own life. Therefore, find a balance in your life, get involved and most importantly, keep on smiling.”
Utah State University psychiatrist Dr. Brian Merrill offered his suggestions on what elements contribute to living a happy life.
“I would propose that happiness is in many ways dependent upon living a balanced life,” Merrill said. “The words ‘balanced life’ in the field of psychiatry would generally refer to having one, meaningful occupational functioning; two, healthy relationships; and three, enjoyable recreation.”
He said occupational functioning includes both employment and academic pursuits, including obtaining a valuable education, meeting financial needs and giving service.
Utah also top-rated for highest volunteerism rate in the nation, the WalletHub survey reported. Volunteerism rates in Utah rise about 47 percent annually compared to the national average, according to the Utah Commission on Service and Volunteerism.
“I will propose that recreational functioning is best when it is reliably enjoyable. This would include engaging activities where one can enjoy the beauty of the experience,” Merrill said.
Merrill said another contributing factor to happiness is healthy relationships that are built on a foundation of shared experiences.
Within the key areas of the WalletHub study, Utah also ranked number 1 for lowest number of work hours and lowest divorce rate.
But Utah ranked near last for highest suicide rates in the country, the study reported.
“Some individuals make a conscious effort to live a life with balance, however, are prevented from feeling happiness or achieving a successful balance because of difficulties regarding brain biology or psychological difficulties involving extreme or distorted thinking patterns. These individuals are the focus of my work here at Utah State University,” Merrill said.
Suicide is the 8th leading cause of death in Utah, and nine times as many people die by suicide in Utah annually than by homicide, according to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
“Each individual has different struggles and challenges that are just as unique as they are,” Swallow said. “I also feel that it is important that we as individuals remember that there is only so much of our lives we have control over. We need to focus our attention and energy into the positive things in life that we have control over and learn to eliminate the things in our life that we cannot control.”
The survey can be found at https://wallethub.com/edu/happiest-states/6959/.
—a.r.stilson@gmail.com