When it comes to happiness, it’s well-known that the Nordic countries regularly score high on surveys of life satisfaction. In fact, Finland has held the top spot in the World Happiness Report’s list of happiest countries for five consecutive years — even as the country deals with cold weather, long winters and no daylight for part of the year in certain parts of the country. (For reference, the United States is 16th on the World Happiness Report’s list.)
Even with these things seemingly against the country, the people of Finland thrive when it comes to their life satisfaction for a myriad of reasons, according to mental health experts.
A huge part of that is because Finland has systems in place that make aspects of life less stressful — education is largely free, time off of work is plentiful and health care coverage is guaranteed. Plus, the country is much, much smaller than the U.S. (the population is smaller than the population of New York City), which also makes certain things easier.
Beyond these systems, though, there are habits and beliefs that Finnish people hold that help them regularly secure the top spot on the World Happiness Report’s list. Below, Finnish mental health experts share why they think people in the country are happier and how you can use some of the country’s tools for happiness, too.
There’s less of a desire to lie about emotions.
In the U.S. (and in many countries, for that matter) replying to “how are you?” with “good” or “fine” is expected. Detailing too much of your struggle is frowned upon by some and uncomfortable for others.
In Finland, though, there is much less compulsory positivity. “There is more tolerance in saying, ‘it’s not ok’ or ‘I’m not feeling fine,’” said Meri Larivaara, the director of strategic affairs at MIELI Mental Health Finland.
Larivaara added that this is, overall, an observation based on time spent in the U.S. and time spent in Finland. But a part of this emotional honesty may be what contributes to Finland’s overall happiness.
All in all, we know that bottling up your emotions does no good. You’ll likely feel overwhelmed, misunderstood and even a little trapped. Some studies say holding in emotions can also take away from social connectedness and is associated with early death.
Work-life balance is prioritized.
While people work hard in Finland, their work hours are largely reasonable, which means most folks have a good work-life balance.
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