Successful Aging: A Neuroscientist Explores the Power and Potential of Our Lives

by Daniel J. Levitin

The report looks at six variables: GDP, social support, health span (not life span!), freedom to make life choices, generosity, and freedom from corruption. “By most accounts, Americans should be happier now than ever,” said Jean Twenge, one of the report’s authors. “The violent crime rate is low, as is the unemployment rate.” The authors speculate that the US ranking has dropped due to a spate of addictions—opioids, gambling, social media, and risky sexual behaviors—as well as the rise in obesity and major depression. The authors also blame overuse of digital devices. By 2017, the average seventeen- or eighteen-year-old spent more than six hours a day of leisure time—in addition to any time spent on schoolwork—on the Internet, social media, and texting, activities that have been linked to increases in depression. With increasing screen time, people became less likely to engage in face-to-face interactions, such as getting together with their friends or going to parties.