“Sometimes when it’s been talked about that I’m taking this leave of absence because of burnout, people think I’m already burnt out. When I ask her about this, Santos answers with surprising candour.
This led the New York Times to muse, Carrie Bradshaw-style: “If the happiness professor is feeling burned out, what hope is there for the rest of us?” Santos, whose nickname is the happiness professor, herself made the news earlier this year when it was reported that she was taking a sabbatical to prevent burnout. But the truth, says Laurie Santos, professor of psychology at Yale University and host of the Happiness Lab podcast, is that “happiness is really hard”. With all of this focus on happiness, it is hard to avoid the sense that being sad or depressed or lonely – or at least not bouncing around in frequent paroxysms of bliss – means you are failing at life. The latest edition of the American DSM-5 (the principal authority for mental disorder diagnoses) includes “prolonged grief disorder” as a mental illness – the controversial message being that if you’re still deep in grief a year after the death of a loved one, you may need professional help. Negative emotions are increasingly pathologised – even in the face of bereavement. “Reminder: Don’t forget, you’re going to die,” the push notifications literally chirp. Such is the obsession with making the most of every moment that you can download an app, WeCroak, to remind you five times a day that you’re going to die – on the basis that regularly micro-dosing on existential dread ought to focus your mind on finding joy. Smile more, these studies, books and guides urge us. The volume of academic research on the subject has increased tenfold since the turn of the century, according to the World Happiness Report 2022.
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There are books, podcasts, Ted talks and courses on how to be happy. There has never been a greater focus on happiness.