Not getting into the Christmas spirit? Feeling angry, hateful and just not loving life?
Well, science has only gone and proved that being a grumpy bastard apparently doesn’t kill you.
It’s true, the discontent among us can now rejoice, as according to a study published on Wednesday in the Lancet, being a happy chappy all the time has no medical benefits over people who are miserable fucks. Get in!
The study analysed more than 700,000 middle-aged women and concluded that “happiness and related measures of wellbeing do not appear to have any direct effect on mortality.”
The findings are a pretty big fuck you to the belief that people who are happy live healthier and longer lives. Oxford University researcher Sir Richard Peto summed up the findings for The New York Times pretty well saying it’s “good news for the grumpy”.
Previous studies which linked happiness and low stress to lower mortality had not allowed properly for the strong effect of ill health on unhappiness and on stress, researchers said.
This study is the latest of many which suggests that the miserable amongst us have a reason to keep our chins up. Other studies showed that those who are depressed or suffer from mental illness are likely to be more intelligent.
So go ahead and release your inner angry bastard – you deserve it.
