Insecurity and crime reduce the perception of happiness among Mexicans: UNAM

The rise in organized crime and the increase in levels of insecurity have led to a decrease in the perception of happiness among Mexicans, experts from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) said Wednesday.

In addition, they pointed to other factors such as the loss of economic and health security and the escalation of domestic and domestic violence during the months of confinement due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

At the remote press conference “What does the happiness of Mexicans depend on?” , several experts pointed out that crime and insecurity have left as a result, among other things, that Mexico “ceases to be a happy country” and although this state of mind is a personal matter, it cannot be detached from the environment.

Manuel Alonso González, from the Faculty of Psychology at UNAM, recalled that based on evaluations carried out by the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (Inegi), states such as Baja California and Baja California Sur are happier than others in northern Mexico.

“For example, Sonora, Chihuahua or Coahuila, where social insecurity is present. Organized crime greatly diminishes the perception of happiness,” González said.

Meanwhile, Beatriz Montemayor, from the Department of Anatomy of the Faculty of Medicine, pointed out that the situation of risk and insecurity is compounded by the effects of the pandemic: loss of loved ones and, in particular, the prevailing state of uncertainty.

He added that regardless of age, to be happy we need to do what we like responsibly.

“We need a purpose; love and companionship are also elements to achieve that state, as well as being right with oneself and knowing you,” he said.

In that sense, González indicated that contact with other human beings makes us feel good: with whom we develop bonds of friendship or the couple. That is why, during the pandemic, “their absence generated a sense of sadness and unease, especially among older adults.”

Montemayor said that happiness depends to a large extent “on will and habits, on finding the place where we are comfortable and where we must fulfill our goals. More than a concept that we can define, it is a construction that changes with the passage of life.”

The specialist explained that “we must have an active existence and with a purpose so that the regulation and balance of neurotransmitters, such as serotonin and dopamine, ensure us happy time”.

At the conference, experts recalled that the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) uses indicators such as housing, income, employment, education, environment, health, safety and work-life balance “so that happiness is no longer such a subjective and personal aspect”.

According to the 2019 OECD index, Mexico ranked 23rd among the happiest countries, but that was before the pandemic and its position is currently lower.

Since 2013, the United Nations has celebrated the International Day of Happiness, on March 20, in recognition of the important role that happiness plays as an integral part in the development and well-being of all human beings.

With information from EFE

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