Happiness

If we are surrounded by upbeat positive people, it tends to rub off on us too and if we are happy we tend to lift the mood of everyone we meet. Like the Pig of Happiness if you are happy then your mood will impact on your friends.

But according the Sunday Times on 1st March 2021* it gets scarier than that:

The presence of a non-depressed friend, i.e. a happy person, significantly reduces your chances of feeling depressed BUT a depressed friend is six times more likely to make you depressed than that happy friend is to make you happy.

This is so important I’ll say it again: A mood hoover is six times more likely to depress you than a happy person is to make you feel happy. So, for every friend who lowers your mood you need at least six friends who make you feel good to be around. And how do you get those? Be more Pig!

*US Professors Nicholas Christakis and James Fowler in the Framingham Heart Study from 1971 to 2003.