There must be something good in the air Down-Under — according to a recent survey, at least two-thirds of Australians believe they hold the key to being happy.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) tested 22,000 people as part of its 2007/08 National Health Survey and found that around a third of Australians exhibit some level of psychological distress and depressive moods, but that the remaining two-thirds of us are relatively happy.
While women are more likely than men to be unhappy, almost 40 per cent of Australians make a habit of popping some form of ‘happy pill’ whether it is antidepressants, sleeping tablets, vitamins or herbal treatments to keep their mental wellbeing on track.
The theory goes that happy people are more likely to be in good health and the ABS survey seems to support this with 85 per cent of participants rating their health as good to excellent.
While positive moods and general wellbeing seem to be the trend in our country, we still have our fair share of health problems.
The most common complaints are:
poor eyesight (52 per cent)
arthritis (15 per cent)
hayfever and allergies (15 per cent)
back problems (14 per cent)
mental or behavioural problems (11 per cent)
asthma (10 per cent)
deafness (10 per cent)
high blood pressure (9 per cent)
diabetes (4 per cent).
Are you happy? Tell us your secret below…
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