Regardless of other living conditions, a higher income was consistently linked to a reduced self-rated level of loneliness. From this study, it's dangerously simple to conclude that more is always better.
You can have depression regardless of how much money you have or make. Although money makes some aspects of life easier, there are other factors that play into mental health and well-being. The wealthy can get depressed the same way people living in poverty can experience depression.
Loneliness is a common experience among successful individuals due to their unique mindsets and ambitious goals. Relating to others with different aspirations can be challenging, leading to isolation and difficulty forming genuine connections.
Millionaires are happy, but not extremely happy.
But the results showed that millionaires were around an 8 out of 10 on their self-reported happiness.
Why is it Lonely at the top? Almost every leader, at some point in their career, has made a similar observation to Einstein. The higher you climb on a corporate ladder, the more sparse the trusted relationships. Sometimes loneliness is the result of responsibility weighing on your shoulders.
According to a study by the Kaiser Family Foundation, young adults aged 18-24 report feeling lonely at higher rates than other age groups. In fact, 25% of young adults report feeling lonely "often" or "always."
Our analysis of the latest ONS statistics reveal that those aged between 16-29 are over two times as likely to report feeling lonely often or always than those over 70, with those aged between 30-49 close behind.
There's also the perception — and sometimes reality — of constant competition and failure doesn't seem to be an option. Grueling hours, constant criticism from others, including strangers, and a loss of the identity you once possessed can open the door to mental health conditions such as depression.
High achievers are wired to be dissatisfied when we meet goals — that is the evolutionary motivation to do the next big thing — but the result is often cumulating disappointment. Year after year of finding success less fulfilling than we expected makes us pessimistic about ever attaining satisfaction.
In fact, some of the most successful people in history have suffered from relentless, incapacitating depression – some have won their battles, or, at least, continued to battle. Some, sadly, succumb to it. So why does depression affect the super-successful, the ones who seem have it all?
Once you hit an annual household income of $75,000 (£62,000), earning more money didn't make you any happier. In 2021, the happiness researcher Matthew Killingsworth released a dissenting study, showing that happiness increased with income and there wasn't evidence of a plateau.
Results showed that people in very poor countries were not as happy as those in rich countries. But that difference vanishes when a country reaches a moderate GNP. The research between salary and happiness suggests similar insights.
Rich people also have stress and face difficulties. But their situations are very different. Rich people's stress is often linked to career advancement. It is short-term stress that helps lead them to a long-term goal.
Feeling unfulfilled or unhappy can be a normal experience for many at different points in their lives. Factors such as work and family stressors, past traumas and negative self-talk can make it challenging to find joy.
Being financially secure, professionally successful, and loved should be a great basis for happiness, but as we all know from personal experience, it's perfectly possible to have all these things and still be pretty miserable.
Each milestone gives you another dopamine hit, which makes you want to keep going with the job. But when you reach your goal, that release of dopamine drops. It's harder for you biochemically to have joy.
The impact of wealth on mental health
Behind many wealthy lifestyles lies suffering, pain, childhood trauma, addiction, and depressive states. Riches may provide for a privileged education and upbringing, but children in vastly wealthy families often grow up feeling isolated and unloved.
People who have gone through adverse life events (unemployment, bereavement, traumatic events) are more likely to develop depression.
Success and mental illness go together like peanut butter and jelly. In fact, it doesn't take long to put together a list of successful people who struggle with mental illness. Famous and successful individuals like Abraham Lincoln, J.K. Rowling, and Jim Carey all struggled with clinical depression.
The de Jong Gierveld Loneliness Scale operationalized loneliness by a three-cluster model to present the latent structure of loneliness: emotional, serious emotional, and severe emotional/social loners.
Published in Perspectives on Psychological Science, a study found that people's expectations from interpersonal relationships undergo considerable changes as they age — resulting in them often feeling lonelier as they grow older, even if they're not alone.
Everyone experiences loneliness at some point in their lives. Middle age is a time when many life changes may be taking place and it can leave you feeling isolated and alone. Remember that other people your age are probably having very similar thoughts and experiences — it isn't just you.
The rich are often deeply concerned about multi-generational wealth. They focus closely on leaving a legacy for their heirs, wanting their children and grandchildren to share in the bounty they've produced. In this way, the rich may be even more concerned with what they'll leave behind than the average person.
Emotionally wealthy people aren't afraid to be real or to be vulnerable. They have the courage to show the world who they are. They let people in because they know all good relationships are based in the qualities of openness, honesty, authenticity and integrity.