sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½

’Tis the season to be jolly. It’s the most wonderful time of the year. Joy to the world all through the night. Fa-la-la, lully, lullay.

There’s a lot of pressure even in the best of years to turn the darkest month into a holly jolly Christmas, a happy joyous Hanukkah, or a happy happy Kwanzaa. We’re expected to be excited, festive and joyful at this time of year.

Those expectations can make feelings of distress seem greater by contrast, and 2020 has provided many reasons for distress.

Even before the dark midnights of December, we were feeling the toll. In October, IPSOS released the results of its annual global happiness survey. sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½ ranked fourth out of 27 countries, with 78 per cent of residents reporting they were happy. That’s a drop of eight per cent since last year, when we tied for first with Australians.

The survey was conducted at the end of July and beginning of August – four months into life under COVID-19. Restrictions put in place in March were in the process of lifting, businesses, shops and restaurants had reopened, and kids would have been out of school for summer regardless. Cautious hopefulness was the order of the day.

Compared with 2019 results, the sources of happiness that gained most in importance deal with relationships, health, and safety – hardly surprising given the pandemic’s top-of-mind position. Personal health/physical well-being and family relationships were the most cited sources of happiness.

The World Happiness Report also measures well-being. A survey by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network for the United Nations, it looks at the state of happiness in 156 countries, ranking countries by how happy their citizens perceive themselves to be, based on the Gallup World Poll and GDP, life expectancy, generosity, social support, freedom and corruption.

The 2020 edition was published March 20, days after sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½ and sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½ put COVID-19 emergency measures in place. This year, sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½ ranked 11th, down from 9th in 2019.

The report found that societies with high levels of personal and institutional trust and with less disparity in quality of life tend to be happier. Citizens of these societies look for and find co-operative ways to work together to support each other, repair damage and build better lives – having someone to count on, having a sense of freedom to make key life decisions, generosity, and trust. It’s no wonder Scandinavian countries consistently score high.

Leger, a Canadian company, acquired the Happiness Index in 2018. The most recent report dates from June 2019 and ranks sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½ at 7.3, slightly above the Canadian happiness average of 7.2, and tied with Saskatchewan for sixth out of 10 provinces and territories. A sense of freedom and living the dream were key sources of pre-pandemic happiness.

The happiness challenge has only increased through 2020.

The holiday season’s usual pressures can be unrealistic at the best of times. The stress of the pandemic adds to the strain. We’re constantly navigating the risks of infection to ourselves, our loved ones and others, and having to adjust to events and circumstances beyond our control. Changes in work requirements, loss of household income, juggling remote work with not-remote childcare, office shutdowns, school-cohort isolation and quarantine measures drag us down.

We’re also facing COVID-19’s financial fallout. Pandemic-related benefits are shifting, rent-subsidy and mortgage-deferral programs are ending, and the bills are coming due. Many of us will be visited this year by the ghost of past spending.

As a result, more people this holiday season this year are experiencing mental health distress, as well as increased alcohol use, substance abuse and other diseases of despair. Opoid deaths surpass COVID-19 deaths. Unemployment levels, which are known to track evenly with suicide levels in sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½, have public health officials concerned.

So, in the bleak midwinter of a pandemic, let’s turn to the lessons that can be found in the happiness surveys. If you’re doing OK, reach out. sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½ with loved ones and with others, too. Be generous with your time, money or kindness. Donate to a foundation or charity, or to the sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½ Christmas Fund. Build trust within your community. Support local businesses – your neighbours. Help those who need a hand or are in distress.

In the words of Dr. Bonnie Henry, Be kind. Be calm. Be safe.

________________________________________