LONDON — Feeling good is becoming an increasingly rare commodity these days, according to a new survey. In a poll of 2,000 people in the United Kingdom, it turns out adults truly feel good — both mentally and physically — less than half of the time (47%).
One in four respondents say they deal with anxiety at least once per week, and 40 percent battle muscle aches on most days. On an especially depressing note, just under six in 10 (57%) say they rarely feel “on top of their game” physically. Another 61 percent have simply accepted that aches and pains are part of their daily life.
The poll, put together by MyVybe, also asked respondents why they think they’re in such bad shape. The top answers included not exercising enough, a poor diet, and “not having enough hours in a day.”
“It is hard to be 100 per cent at all times and there will be things that bring us down. Especially as we get older, aches and strains and sniffles seem to seek us out more easily than when we were younger,” says a MyVybe spokesperson in a statement. “However, that may also be a case of looking at the past through rose-tinted glasses as many youngsters also report similar issues. There are so many different ways we need to look after ourselves – both mentally and physically – that it can be a full-time job just staying on top of it.”
Over the course of an average 24-hour period (including time spent sleeping), respondents estimate they only feel 100 percent for around 10 hours and 12 minutes. Most adults seem to feel better in the morning, and worse at night — usually exhausted after a long day.
Is feeling good too expensive?
All in all, only 63 percent of respondents say they would consider themselves healthy. On a related note, 23 percent have recently put themselves on a diet, 41 percent started going to bed earlier, and another 41 percent are trying to drink more water.
Similarly, 40 percent have started exercising more and 27 percent are taking more vitamins and supplements. One in 10 people have even recently booked themselves a spa day.
Unfortunately, over four in 10 (42%) believe it is just too expensive to indulge in these activities on a regular basis. Another 40 percent say it takes too much time.
Here’s an interesting statistic: two in three adults (68%) say they’ve become accustomed to simply “accepting” the days they feel poorly and are content to wait the days out until tomorrow comes.
The survey was conducted by OnePoll.
Humans, and animals generally, did not evolve to “feel good” all of the time. Or even most of the time. It is discomfort that drives us for food, sex, and generally doing constructive activities. If one is “feeling good” 98% of the time, say with artificial drugs, then one would simply sit contently enjoying the feeling. So feeling good half the time even sounds too high and is likely a modern predicament; I would imagine 4,000 years ago, a human felt good less than 15% of the time, maybe those few and far between moments when shelter was not a concern, food had been hunted, and a fire built … ahhhh, now for an hour of bliss and a nap. No doubt, modern science will find a way for humans to feel good 98% of the time…and that will be the end of human accomplishment.
What you are saying maybe true for much of human history spanding the time since the main stream utilization of agriculture. This is not, however, most likely the case with our ancient hunter gatherer ancestors. Who, gauging by modern statistics on hunter gatherers, most likely had exceptional mental health, including almost 0% depression among the populace, as well as more free time than modern humans. Agriculture is known to be so exhausting as to inspire people to purchase slaves. This is not the case with hunter gatherers.
I personally think an office job is probably even harder on the human system than an agriculture job. Just because office jobs have been around for a shorter period of time and humans fed list opportunity to adapt to them. Think about it, lack of natural sunlight, lack of exercise, lack of inhaling the various bacterium that float around in open air and help alleviate depression it’s like a smorgasbord of bad stuff. There is even a school of thought that the advent of organized religion coincided with agriculture as it provided a control matrix To keep more people working and order that you could have a constant surplus of food.
Good point, if you look at the societies that are still hunter/gather’s, they don’t tend to advance, create or grow. They have everything they need, Hungry?, go eat some fruit, fish, or whatever their diet consists of. Maybe built a hut, they see no need to enlarge their homes or change their organization. Fine for them. I think humans are generally driven to advance, grow, create,.. Granted with that comes bad things like wars, class sytems and such, but yes the need to grow makes us uncomfortable and the problem solving gene kicks in. When you are uncomfortable you should try to resolve it. If it’s too much work to “Feel Better” then you have obviously peaked. And that’s as good as you’ll ever feel. Otherwise, figure out why you feel crappy and fix it. If an office job makes you miserable, find something else. Some people thrive on physical activity, some are fine with sitting at a desk. Don’t spend your limited life span doing something you hate. That doesn’t make sense.
Back in the day humans were both predator and prey. Not a quality sleep knowing something is out there as hungry as you are.
I’m not sure if I believe that. I think the opposite. Human beings were and are meant to feel 110% awesome all the time, all throughout the day. However, modern society/culture has not allowed this to simply just take place anymore.
It’s better to look good than to feel good, anyway.
Feeling good is for the ultra wealthy! Back to work slave!
Something wrong about the expectation to “feel good” all the time. Not feeling good, not feeling bad, feeling fairly neutral. Life is hard. Life is not painless. Still, life is good. Wouldn’t want to be a grinning ninny.