Money and education don’t buy happiness

Higher education and money don’t buy happiness. Well, heck, then what does? I always wondered why the smartest people I know are sometimes the most miserable.

Highly-educated Americans may earn more money, but they’re also in for more misery, according to new research from the Stanford School of Medicine. The findings indicate that people with advanced degrees are at greater risk for mental health problems than the rest of the US. Employees at a Northern California office where 51 percent of workers had a master’s or doctoral degree were evaluated for their overall mental health status. The highly educated workforce scored well below the national average.

There are a lot of different causes for depression and women tend to get depression more than men.

Women experience depression twice as often as men. The diagnostic criteria for depression are the same for both sexes, but women with depression more frequently experience guilt, anxiety, increased appetite and sleep, weight gain and comorbid eating disorders.

There is hope, though. There are a lot of treatments out there that work.


You have to remember that there may be a chemical cause to your depression, and only your doctor can evaluate if taking an anti-depressant is right for you.

Certain brain chemicals called neurotransmitters are associated with depression, including the neurotransmitters serotonin (ser-oh-TOE-nin) and norepinephrine (nor-ep-ih-NEF-rin). Research suggests that abnormalities in neurotransmitter activity can affect mood and behavior.

Along with any medication that you take, I also think it is a good idea to look into seeing a psychologist, in order to deal with the daily life stresses that come with being alive.

Alexandra Simotas