Can Money Buy Happiness?

The experts have declared we are in the midst of a global mental health crisis and we are feeling the exhaustion of it. The world feels as though it has gone unhinged and inequalities continue to grow (think: the rich get richer, the poor get poorer).

When we think of inequality, we tend to imagine the impacts of material deprivation on people living on the margins, but what happens if we look up the other way—people with too much material wealth, living at the height of success? They say money cannot buy happiness, but social media and our market economy have been convincing us otherwise.

We are in a ripe scenario for a well-being market to flourish, a system to exchange goods for services. There is a price tag on peace of mind: Yoga for connecting the mind and body ($20-40 per class), breath work to access a sense of safety ($45 for a 1-hour workshop), meditation to cancel out the noise (cost of meditation apps $20/month, or $14.99/month), and supplements to properly digest it all.

But the well-being market does not just stop with its customers seeking products or events that promise well-being, it is also a never-ending game for its service providers. Mental health providers also need to invest in their well-being to offer the best quality services for others. Some charge a higher hourly rate to ensure that they can access the additional wellness activities outside of therapy sessions, which allows them to provide a more person-centered experience to their clients.

The exchange of their hourly rate is much more than just one hour. These therapists often do not take insurance due to the low reimbursement rate and the hours of paperwork needed to submit insurance claims outside the clinical hours.

Julie Goldberg, co-author and a trauma therapist, states, “There is an emotional toll it takes on one’s system to support a person’s trauma every day. 18 clinical hours a week, 20-25 clients on a caseload. Most therapists who work with trauma spend money outside of therapy sessions on individual therapy, group supervision, bodywork, movement classes, meditation retreats, yoga, etc. They view taking care of their well-being as part of their responsibility as therapists.”

 

Providers and their clients are in a catch-22. They are stuck within a well-being capitalist ecosystem that has an estimated worth of multi-trillion dollars. Some well-intended therapists adopt a feedback loop that can push them further inward, making their clients easy targets to market well-being too.

Social media has infused our daily lives, using therapy-speak to justify our guilt-free self-care spending—for those of us who can. Marketing for well-being promises to satiate parts of us that in fact cannot be satiated by monetary means. The more people are encouraged to increase their earning potential and continue chasing individualistic well-being activities, the wider the wealth gap becomes, risking the possibilities for collective well-being.

The mirage of having it all

Researchers have shed light on the emotional distress triggered by affluent societies—where inequality is greatest—individuals sometimes have to pay a price of emotional distress to strive for and/or maintain social status and can feel high levels of anxiety, isolation, and despondence.

Around the world there is a glamorization of hybrid and remote work that promises various freedoms—create your schedule and strike up an excellent work-life balance, travel, and have more time for yourself and your family. We exchange currency to get back time. Although these opportunities and privileges are attractive, research shows that there are negative consequences on our well-being in this lifestyle shift that we are still grappling with. Feelings of isolation, increased screen time, and lack of movement are also consequences of this lifestyle that we tend to overlook.

With a pay increase often comes an increase in time spent working, and we miss out on small moments that provide a very important source of well-being that doesn’t have a price tag. Saying hello to the bus driver on your way to work, a colleague noticing a new haircut and smiling, or walking to a lunch spot. The small, unassuming interactions and spaces increase the perception of our well-being.

Humans are deeply relational creatures, not only within our own close social circle but also in a wider community that is made up of both our strongest ties (family and friends) and weak, informal ties (the bus driver, colleague and lunch spot). The 2023 World Happiness Report shows the importance of social connections and social support as a means to resilient well-being. This is contradictory to the messaging we receive from the well-being market.

Moving towards equality and imagining well-being free of cost

We see and hear the word ‘crisis’ everywhere, coupled with images of tragedy on our television and phone screens; fast-paced changes and uncertainty may have us in a constant state of alertness.

Perhaps looking inward has become our shared way of coping and seeking a sense of control, and we may begin to think we can’t help others because it is all too much when we can’t even help ourselves.

Each of us, in our way, may be stuck in the well-being capitalistic ecosystem that has limited collective sources for well-being. One of the biggest consequences of inequality and the well-being industry is looking too inward, causing societal fragmentation in an unequal society that is craving dialogue, empathy and a better distribution of resources.

Can we begin to imagine a move towards a more equal world where well-being is intrinsic in our daily lives? A place where individuals are critical of the effects of having too much or too little as two sides of the same coin, a daily life that does not chase the mirage of wealth, a health system that provides universal mental health services with fair compensation and resources for its providers, and neighborhoods that have opportunities for people to connect and cooperate.

The more critical we can become of the well-being capitalist ecosystem, the sooner we can begin to change and create the conditions to take care of ourselves and each other.