Half of Americans struggle to stay happy

What a wonderful testimony to government by conservatives (sarcasm alert)

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24376037/

updated 1 hour, 23 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - Staying healthy and happy is a struggle for about half of Americans, according to a massive survey that attempts to measure the nation’s general welfare, much like the Dow Jones Industrial Average portrays the health of the stock market.

The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index, based on interviews of more than 100,000 people so far, shows that 47 percent of Americans are struggling and 4 percent are suffering. Forty-nine percent of respondents are reported to be thriving based on a personal assessment of how they feel about their lives at the time of the survey, and where they think they’ll be in five years.
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Those who are thriving tend to have higher incomes, more education and less illness. Those who are suffering have trouble meeting their basic needs, including food, shelter and medical care, said James Harter, Gallup’s chief scientist for workplace management and well-being.

Just as the U.S is not No. 1 when it comes to health measures, it also is not No. 1 in well-being, he said. For example, 83 percent of the residents of Denmark are classified as thriving versus 1 percent who are suffering.
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Dr. Julie Gerberding, director of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, noted that the United States invests more on health care than any country, but that its health care system ranks 37th.