Study: Money, Mental Health Strongly Related

A Gallup study reports that there is a strong relationship between income and mental health:

While the substantial majority of Americans rate their mental health today as excellent or good, there are significant variations in this self-reported mental health measure by one's socioeconomic position. Those with higher incomes are much more likely than those with lower incomes to report excellent mental health, and this relationship persists even when other variables such as age, education, gender, and marital status are taken into account.

Research: Money Makes You Happy When...

While the various studies on money and happiness frequently conclude that the correlation between income, wealth, and happiness is weak or not as strong as 'people' may assume, one study found that "wealth generally allowed 'substantially better well-being, and less sadness and loneliness' [for those with disabilities]".

When Money DOES Buy Happiness, Robert Roi Britt, LiveScience.com, 4/6/2005

PS: When MBH comes across news articles, research, opinion, etc., related to our theme, we will post it - even when, like here - we're a little late to the game! Chances are you missed this story, and if you didn't, here's another chance to reconsider it.

Rich Get More Sleep Than Poor

An example of the health impact of socioeconomic status, a study found that - surprisingly - the higher one's income, the more sleep one tended to get:

The amount of sleep people got increased with their income, and this effect was stronger for the black participants than the whites.

There are a number of potential explanations for the findings, Lauderdale noted. People who make less money may have more worries that prevent them from sleeping well. They could be living in noisier, less comfortable environments, and they may have more health problems.

The racial and economic sleep differences detected in this study could help explain the well-known disparities in health that exist between blacks and whites, [the reseracher] added.

American Journal of Epidemiology, July 1, 2006, as reported by Reuters, June 29, 2006.

See also: Money not imporant, but...

Money Not Important, but...

On today's Laura Ingraham show, the popular conservative talk radio host(-ess?) remarked that her recent breast cancer surgery served to put money in perspective for her -- it's not really that important, she said.

Ingraham, whose show regularly features "but monkey" soundbites (replete with cartoon monkey sound effects) from journalists and politicians who start to say one thing, then insert a BUT big enough to change the meaning of their thought entirely, then added:

'But you do have to have health insurance, that's for sure.'

See also:

New hope against breast cancer Kansas City Star 4/28/05 (Anti-cancer drug Herceptin effective, but typical treatment $120,000, in addition to surgery, chemotherapy and radiation)

New Cancer Drugs Are Driving Up Cost of Care Los Angeles Times 5/14/05 ("[The two drugs that Mary Vaughan takes to specifically target her breast cancer cells (unlike chemotherapy, which also targets healthy cells),] Avastin and Herceptin, would cost her nearly $8,000 a month — more than Vaughan says she can afford, even with her insurance.... The average life expectancy of [colon cancer] patients has doubled to 22 months ... but the cost of treatment has swollen 500 times to $250,000.")

Cost of Cancer On the Rise American Cancer Society 4/19/02 ("'Everybody's talking about cost controls... But the consumer needs to be sensitive to the idea that certain types of cost controls may impact the ability to keep your cancer from growing.'")

Update January 2007: Rich, young, educated women get better breast cancer care than poor, older women, BMJ, 1/27/2007: "Three US studies show that the treatment of breast cancer is influenced by a woman's education, income, and age."