Recession helps our health

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Why the Recession Helps Our Health

A shopkeeper once told me his bicycle sales went up when the economy went down. Sure enough, The Economist reported a sharp increase in demand for bicycles in 2008. Clearly, some hearts, muscles and lungs are benefiting during this recession.

Interestingly, there are other unexpected health advantages of hard times. I spoke to the go-to economist for studies on health and the economy, Ruhm, PhD, at the University of North Carolina Greensboro, who told me that, in fact, many measures of physical health actually improve as the economy declines.

Dr. Ruhm has documented lower rates of heart disease, influenza, pneumonia, disk disorders, liver problems, three heart disease risk factors (smoking, obesity and physical inactivity), drinking and traffic deaths when unemployment rises. He estimates that a 1% rise in unemployment reduces the total death rate by 0.5%.

Dr. Ruhm points out that his work (macroeconomics) is based on aggregate data, so the effects will vary widely for individuals, but notes that what’s true for the macro level is likely to be true, on average, at the individual level as well. It makes a lot of sense -- as Dr. Ruhm explained, fewer jobs means less air pollution, which is linked to heart attacks... less income means fewer dollars spent on tobacco and alcohol... more free time means more time to exercise... and traffic accidents go down because fewer people are commuting. He estimates that a 1% increase in unemployment reduces US traffic deaths by 3%.

HEALTHY SELF-IMPROVEMENT

People also tend to work on themselves during economic slumps. Dr. Ruhm reasons, "When times are bad, people feel they have minimal control over their lives, so they control what they can control -- themselves." A recent report from Marketdata Enterprises noted a 13.6% increase in the self-improvement business -- weight loss, stress management, personal coaching, self-help books -- from 2005 to 2008, despite the economic downturn.

A need to spend less puts the focus on no- or low-cost leisure activities, such as exercise and cooking meals at home, which can benefit health. Not surprisingly, data from early 2006 to early 2008 shows restaurant visits fell by about 10%, according to Decision Analyst market research. Another interesting factoid that provides more evidence that Americans are turning to what Dr. Ruhm describes as "inexpensive and healthy ways to have fun" -- US condom sales rose 6% in January 2009 compared with January 2008, according to Nielson Co. research.

FINDING HAPPINESS IN A RECESSION Okay but it can still be a challenge to feel good at a time when life itself is presenting so many challenges. I recently read a book by Harvard psychologist Gilbert, PhD, called Stumbling on Happiness. In his book he noted that while negative events can be difficult, "they generally don’t affect us as much or for as long as we expect them to." He said we might think of people as "having a psychological immune system [Freud's defense mechanism] that defends the mind against unhappiness in much the same way that the physical immune system defends the body against illness." What serves us best, says Dr. Gilbert, is "a healthy psychological immune system [that]

strikes a balance that allows us to feel good enough to cope with our situation but bad enough to do something about it." He acknowledges that losing a job is a big enough trauma to trigger the psychological defenses we need to recover. I found a few strategies in the book that we can use to move toward happiness in a recession.

WHAT WE CAN DO

Explain it. "Studies show that the mere act of explaining an unpleasant event can help to defang it."

Write about it. Says Dr. Gilbert, "Simply writing about a trauma... can lead to surprising improvements in both subjective well-being and physical health (e.g. fewer visits to the physician and improved production of viral antibodies). What’s more, the people who experience the greatest benefit from these writing exercises are those whose writing contains an explanation of the trauma."

Get perspective. Most economic and psychological research concludes that wealth does little to increase happiness once basic human needs are met, points out Dr. Gilbert.

Ask others about their experience. Dr. Gilbert advises people to find someone who is going through a similar experience and ask him/her how he feels. You may be surprised at the similarities. His take: "If you are like most people, then like most people, you don’t know you’re like most people."

Dr. Ruhm offers straightforward advice: "Make your health improvement intentional. See opportunity and take it." If you’re working less, exercise more -- if you need to cut back on what you spend, make changes that work in your favor. Owning your actions puts you in control of your life and your health.

Source(s): Ruhm, PhD, economist, University of North Carolina Greensboro.

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