Self reported happiness is notoriously unreliable. Check out “Are you really happy?” https://www.psypost.org/2016/01/self-reported-well-being-doesnt-match-up-w

Self reported happiness is notoriously unreliable. Check out “Are you really happy?” https://www.psypost.org/2016/01/self-reported-well-being-doesnt-match-up-with-external-observation-40289 https://www.psypost.org/2016/01/self-reported-well-being-doe... Here is a basic primer on the subject: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-report_study https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-report_study Given that self-reports are unreliable, we should instead focus on what people actually do. And since 2008, the USA has seen a rising number of “deaths of despair”: https://www.newsweek.com/what-so-called-deaths-despair-experts-say-rise-1481975 https://www.newsweek.com/what-so-called-deaths-despair-exper... If you look at peoples actions, and ignore their words, it would seem the USA is suffering an epidemic of despair.