Australia conjures up thoughts in one’s head of a country, and a continent, where kangaroos and koalas roam freely, and where people are generally laid-back. This assumption of happiness of the Australian people is even supported by the World Database of Happiness Rank Report 2014, which ranks Australia’s happiness at a 7.3 out of 10, an extremely high number. One can only wonder, then, what does make Australia one of the happiest countries on Earth? Many factors can go into deciding what exactly makes the citizens of a country the happiest. In Australia’s case, however, location, size, and other various points help to create a country that is almost perfectly content.
Australia is located in the Southern Hemisphere in the Pacific Ocean. Although Australia is near Indonesia and New Zealand, this continent is basically stranded in the middle of the ocean, with no other continents close. This large amount of space in between Australia and the other countries can lead one to believe that the location has a large amount to do with Australia’s happiness rating. Countries that are extremely close together, such as Zimbabwe, Ukraine, and Jordan, have a much lower happiness rating, according to the World Database of Happiness. Australia is not landlocked, which always has a great deal to do with the citizens’ happiness, seeing as though the majority of the population lives on the eastern and southeastern coast of Australia (“Australia,” n.d.). Weather is another factor that can greatly affect the moods of people all around the world. Australia’s weather varies greatly around the country, from tropical to Mediterranean and even desert-like climates (“Australia-Geography and Climate,” n.d.). In the southeastern part, though, ...
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Tiffen, R., & Gittins, R. (2009). How Australia compares (2nd edition). Cambridge, GBR: Cambridge University Press.
Helman, Christopher. “The World's Happiest (And Saddest) Countries, 2013.” Forbes.com. Forbes Media LLC., 29 Oct. 2013. Web. 18 Mar. 2014
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that 25% of people suffer from a mental illness and that 50% of people will develop one during their life ("Surveillance Report," 2011). Mental illness is also associated with “chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, arthritis, asthma, and diabetes” (Pederson et al., 2013, p. 695). Rural communities have higher rates of chronic illnesses, mental health issues and fewer providers thus making this population vulnerable to health disparities. The purpose of this paper is to explore mental illness in the rural community, ways to improve accessibility to care, and improve outcomes through the role of a rural nurse educator.
"Prevalence of mood disorders in a national sample of young American adults." Soc Psychiatry. Psychiatr Epidemiol 38(11): 618-624. Lee, C. V., S. W. McDermott, et al. a. The '90s.
...y of international trends. Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology , 45 (9), 889 - 897.
Sturm R, Ringel JS, Andreyeva T. Geographic Disparities in Children’s Mental Health Care. Pediatrics. 2003; 112(4):308-315.
"Australia." Economy: Population, GDP, Inflation, Business, Trade, FDI, Corruption. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Dec. 2013. .
One reason described to be a cause of happiness is income. Don Peck and Ross Douthat indicate how, “National income appears to be one of the best single predictors of overall well-being, explaining perhaps 40 percent of the difference in contentment among nations” (352). With this statement, comes the explanation of how income can influence happiness in adults who strive to earn a living. Research illustrates how, “For individual countries, with few exceptions, self-reported happiness has increased as incomes have risen” (Douthat 352). While these two statements provide sufficient evidence for the reason of income bringing happiness, income itself is not relevant.
In this documentary, Roko Belic an American film producer and director tries to explain happiness by traveling the world from Louisiana, United States to Okinawa, Japan to learn more about happiness of different ages, classes and ethnicities of people. He explains that in his documentary by interviewing several normal people about their
Meltzer, H., Gill, B., Petticrew, M. and Hinds, K. (1995), The Prevalence of Psychiatric Morbidity Among Adults Living in Private Households , London: HMSO.
Australia has had one of the most outstanding economies of the world in recent years - competitive, open and vibrant. The nation’s high economic performance stems from effective economic management and ongoing structural reform. Australia has a competitive and dynamic private sector and a skilled, flexible workforce. It also has a comprehensive economic policy framework in place. The economy is globally competitive and remains an attractive destination for investment. Australia has a sound, stable and modern institutional structure that provides certainty to businesses. For long time, Australia is a stable democratic country with strong growth, low inflation and low interest rate.(Ning)
Happy is a documentary that brings to light the different types of livings of people around the world and contrasts how they define happiness. The movie starts out in Kolkata Slum, India, with a man Manoj Singh. Manoj is living a relatively impoverished life. His house isn’t the best, in fact the roof is just a tarp however he says “my home is good.” Manoj is quite happy with his life and it’s not because of his minimal possessions but the community around him. His happiness lies in the fact that he can see his son smiling every day and he is so grateful for his neighbors and friends. He even states himself that he doesn’t consider himself as “poor but the richest person.” Manoj’s happiness is described as the same as the average American.
...exercise, eating healthy, and others, and because of this heavy influence, achieving personal happiness might be more difficult. For instance, a well off person with an easy life might find it easy not to worry about certain things concerning finances, and that might cause him to be happier. In the same way, a person who was not so well off might worry about their financial situation resulting in them having a more difficult time achieving happiness. Although there are some factors about our environment that cannot be changed, I believe that a lot things concerning Nature can be changed through our choices and decisions. If you are not happy then ask yourself why and ask yourself what you can do to change that. Although our upbringing has a lot to do with our personal levels of happiness, so does our environment and the things we choose to surround ourselves with.
Contrary to belief, genuine happiness is very rarely found at the bottom of a shopping basket or on the leather seats of a brand new car. Often we hear the cliché saying “Money can’t buy happiness” but this is in fact true. Whilst the elation and delight brought from finally owning a wanted item is extraordinary, you must remind yourself that your happiness should not become dependant upon your ownership of this item. Being happy is not something you can purchase from a shop or car dealership, it is the way you take on life. Unfortunately, happiness does not have its own aisle at shops and never will.
Easton, Mark. "Does Sunshine Make Us Happier?" BBC News. N.p., 24 July 2012. Web. 06 Apr.
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