Why there is reason to be cheerful in turbulent times
Despite conflict, climate change and division, there remains reason for optimism
The following contribution corresponds to Sergey Maratovich Guriyev who is a Russian economist, dean and professor of economics at the London Business School. He was previously rector of the Institut d’études politiques in Paris. From 2016 to 2019 he was chief economist at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
Promise: The world has never been so educated and prosperous, says LBS dean
Professor Sergei Guriev is dean of the London Business School. He was rector of Sciences Po in Paris and chief economist at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
It’s hard to be optimistic about the world these days.
There are bloody wars in Ukraine and the Middle East with no clear end in sight. The planet is getting warmer by the month and our ability to address the environmental crisis is in doubt.
There are growing divisions between China and the West and, within Western societies, social media provides a platform to spread disinformation and promote polarisation.
Populist politicians blame “corrupt elites” for their failure to manage cross-border migration, for higher prices and for lower living standards, but they offer no credible solutions.
All of these problems are real and overwhelming for those now beginning business and leadership careers. Global warming is likely to create hundreds of millions of climate refugees.
Wars cost lives and destroy cities; they also affect the global economy
The Russian invasion of Ukraine is likely to have shaved $1 trillion off global GDP (compare the IMF economic forecasts for January and April 2022).
When populists come to power, a country’s economy slows and its democratic institutions deteriorate. Finally, inequality and polarization undermine our ability to address these problems.
However, we must not forget that humanity has been through worse and survived. As they say in financial markets, past performance is no guarantee of future results. But social science research suggests reasons for optimism.
There are many problems today, but we must be aware that our perceptions are worse than reality
First, we must not forget that we can suffer from a negativity bias when reporting on the news. The advent of social media has probably exacerbated this.
The business model of platforms is based on keeping users’ attention. This is easier with disaster reports than with news about gradual progress in the fight against global poverty. Social media makes the world more transparent. This helps expose corruption, but it also highlights all the mistakes of the elites in power and reduces trust in government and political institutions.
Despite multiple crises, the world has never been so prosperous, educated and progressive. Fifty years ago, more than 40 percent of humanity lived in extreme poverty. Today, that share is 10 percent — still too high, but much improved.
The climate crisis is real, but the ingenuity of innovators and entrepreneurs has already driven down the costs of generating clean energy to a level where about 96 percent of new large-scale onshore wind and solar power plants have lower generation costs than new coal and natural gas plants.
According to the International Energy Agency, renewables account for 33 percent of the global energy mix, up from 22 percent 10 years ago. Next year, renewables will overtake coal as the world’s largest source of electric power generation.
Economic problems have economic solutions
Second, while populist politicians rightly point out that globalization, automation and the global financial crisis left many lower-middle-class voters in developed countries behind, economic problems have economic solutions.
Post-crisis austerity policies worsened the economic situation of the most vulnerable sections of society. Among other things, there is evidence to suggest that austerity policies contributed to Brexit.
But this lesson has already been learned, and during the COVID-19 pandemic, most governments around the world were more generous, thus avoiding fanning the flames of populism.
The other important way to overcome intra-societal divisions is deliberative democracy
Recently, democratic countries such as Ireland, Canada, the United Kingdom and France have used various forms of citizen assemblies to address difficult and potentially polarizing issues, from environmental transition to pension reforms, to abortion and gay marriage.
Deliberative democracy randomly selects one or several hundred ordinary citizens and asks them to reflect on a given issue. These “mini-publics” talk to experts and politicians and propose solutions. These policies are not formulated by “disengaged elites” but by “regular people,” which gives them immunity to the polarizing narratives of populists.
Finally, we must recognize that not all democratic electoral systems are born equal
In the recent UK general election, the Labour Party won 34% of the vote and took 63% of the seats. In the French parliamentary election, Marine Le Pen’s National Rally party came in first, with 37% of the vote, but only won 25% of the seats.
Two-party systems, such as the one in the United States, can further foster polarization, as it is difficult to create a centrist third party
An alternative is ranked-choice voting, whereby voters rank candidates. Those who are less hated than others win (i.e. those ranked second by a majority rather than first by a minority or last by a majority).
This voting system is therefore more likely to benefit centrist candidates who propose compromise policies. This seems like a theoretical abstraction (and can be improved), but it has been increasingly used in parts of the United States.
The world is in trouble, but there is hope
Humanity remains in favor of democracy. In 2024, half of the world’s population went to the polls; most of these elections turned out better for pro-democratic candidates than many feared.
Even non-democratic leaders largely choose to pretend to be democrats, showing that they are aware that voters prefer choice and accountability.
The Power of Joy in Difficult Times
The following contribution corresponds to the portal of The Jed Foundation which is a non-profit organization that protects the emotional health and prevents suicide of adolescents and young adults in the United States. Phil and Donna Satow founded the organization in 2000 after their youngest son, Jed, died by suicide in college in 1998.
The author of the article is Alexandra Frost – Content Strategist, freelance editor and journalist, content marketing writer and brand strategist with over 20 years of experience in Cincinnati, Ohio. She helps publications and brands achieve their content goals.
The last few years have been some of the most challenging, and for many of us, the most challenging. We have been focused on surviving a pandemic, physically, emotionally and financially.
We have also been managing the emotions that come with social and political conflict here and in other countries, the climate crisis and more.
At times we have felt like each day brought more bad news. With all that, it may seem silly to think about making time for joy. But the fact is, finding joy is one of the most powerful ways we can survive — and even thrive — in times like this.
The dictionary defines joy as “a feeling of great pleasure and happiness.” We all experience it in different ways at different times. Joy can manifest as laughter, gratitude, fun, connection, peace, or even solitude.
“We talk about that feeling of lightness that we feel physically and then mentally,” says Anjali Ferguson, PhD, a culturally responsive clinical psychologist who works with families in Richmond, Virginia. “When we experience happiness, it physically changes what’s going on in our bodies and can really improve our mental health.”
What joy does to our minds and bodies
When we do things that make us feel good, like socializing or exercising, “we activate the pleasure centers of our brain,” Ferguson says, and then our bodies pump out brain chemicals (like serotonin and dopamine) that make us feel good. At the same time, joy reduces stress hormones and “tells our body to calm down.”
Laughter, which often goes hand in hand with joy, can give us a huge physical and emotional boost
Smiling and laughing can actually reduce physical pain and relax muscles. People who participated in a 2020 study answered survey questions throughout the day about how often and how intensely they laughed, whether they had been through any stressful events, and how they reacted to them.
The more people laughed, the fewer stress symptoms they had. Interestingly, the intensity with which they laughed didn’t make a difference.
Since laughing seems to be so good for us and is a cheap way to improve mental health, experts are researching laughter therapy to see exactly how it can help manage conditions like depression and anxiety.
Joy that helps our mindset
Barbara Fredrickson, PhD, director of the Positive Emotions and Psychophysiology Lab at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, has found that positive emotions like joy help us think more creatively, bounce back from negative emotions and thoughts, and generally improve our emotional well-being.
Of course, that sounds like something you don’t need to do research for. Joy is like feeling good, right? But what Frederickson has found is that little bursts of positive emotions here and there can have all these powerful effects. Which is a good thing, because who is joyful all the time?
Being happy all the time isn’t the goal
“Having good mental health is about the ability to flow with a range of emotions as they flow through you,” says Janis Whitlock, PhD, director of Cornell University’s research program on self-harm and recovery and a senior advisor to JED.
She compares it to a yoga class, where the goal isn’t to hold the pose perfectly all the time, but to learn how to come back to it after a fall or needing a break.
In fact, it’s not our brain’s job to be happy all the time. Our brain’s top priority is to ensure that we grow, survive, and reproduce. That’s why our brains tend to focus on negative emotions like fear. Feeling afraid when we’re in real danger keeps us alive.
Seeking joy in difficult times
The past few years have been filled with a lot of fear, so going through a difficult time right now “is a normal human response to an extraordinary time,” Whitlock says.
“It would be disrespectful not to acknowledge how much harder the pursuit of joy and mental health in general is right now.” More than that, understanding and expressing what has been (or continues to be) difficult is part of taking care of your mental health. “To get into a state of joy or experience it at times throughout the day, we first have to validate what’s difficult,” Whitlock says.
Science also suggests that you can get some of the benefits of joy even when you’re not feeling very joyful
A study published more than a decade ago, but still referenced by psychologists like Whitlock, found that our bodies don’t know the difference between a fake smile and a real one.
Researchers had participants hold sticks in their mouths that kept their lips in a smile shape and then compared their stress responses to people who were genuinely smiling.
It turns out that even those who “fake” smile have a lower heart rate (indicating they’re less stressed) during stressful times. Frederickson’s research has also shown that “if you watch something uplifting or funny, it can have immediate positive benefits, even if you’re not in the mood,” Whitlock says. “Actively seeking out positive emotions really helps.”
Making time for joy will make a huge difference to your overall well-being, and, Whitlock says, “it’s totally possible even in these difficult times.”
How can you find joy (or at least peace) in difficult times?
Life has its ups and downs, but finding purpose and changing routines helps.
The author of the following contribution is Dr. Stephanie Collier, director of education in the division of geriatric psychiatry at McLean Hospital; a consulting psychiatrist on the population health management team at Newton-Wellesley Hospital; and an instructor in psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. Her professional interests include the interface between medicine and psychiatry, the treatment of mental illness in the primary care setting, and optimizing the training and supervision of nonspecialist physicians to deliver mental health interventions in resource-limited settings.
An older adult patient once told me, “There are good decades and bad decades.” I remember being surprised to hear this: the patient was referring to his relationship with his wife. For many of us, 10 years seems like a long time to struggle. How do we find joy when we experience difficulties, or how do we at least make our struggles bearable?
Loss of joy can be a sign of a mental health problem, or it can be a normal response
Life has its ups and downs, but sometimes challenging events happen all at once. When our world is turned upside down, it’s normal to feel a lack of joy. Health problems, loss, breakups, housing problems, natural disasters—the list of serious stressors and traumatic events is long. Most adults will experience multiple traumas and serious losses throughout their lives. Loss of joy in these contexts is a natural part of the human experience.
However, for some people, a lack of joy persists or comes on suddenly. This can occur in a mood disorder such as depression. The inability to feel pleasure (also known as anhedonia) is even part of the diagnostic criteria for depression, and it’s quite common.
About 8% of American adults will experience depression in a given year, and about 20% will experience an episode of depression during their lifetime. Loss of joy can also accompany other mental illnesses, including psychotic illnesses and dementia. Certain medications, including (paradoxically) those that treat depression, can also cause emotional blunting and loss of joy.
What is the difference between joy and happiness?
Joy and happiness are often used interchangeably. However, happiness technically refers to pleasurable feelings (emotions) that result from a situation, experience, or objects, while joy is a state of mind that can be found even in times of pain or uncertainty.
Therefore, we can work on cultivating joy regardless of our circumstances. Winning the lottery can trigger happiness (in the short term); spending time engaging in meaningful activities can result in long-term joy.
Neurotransmitters of Joy and Well-Being
While the neurobiology of joy is complex, there are a few neurotransmitters that stand out for promoting positive feelings: dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, and endorphins.
The good news is that many changes in our lives can increase the levels of these neurotransmitters. For example, running can produce a “runner’s high”; spending time with a baby releases oxytocin, the “
