I dwell in Lithuania, supposedly the world’s happiest place for Gen Z. This is why I am not satisfied.

• The World Happiness Report ranked Lithuania because the happiest place for these below 30.

• Goda Ponomariovaitė, 22, informed Enterprise Insider she’s skeptical of that rating.

• She stated psychological sickness prevention is missing, and plenty of of her buddies have misplaced somebody to suicide.

This as-told-to essay relies on an in-person interview with Goda Ponomariovaitė, a 22-year-old Lithuanian scholar dwelling in Vilnius.

The next has been edited for size and readability.

When Lithuania was ranked by the World Happiness Report because the happiest place in the world for young people, I used to be really shocked.

My buddies and I laughed on the information.

From our personal experiences, there is a huge drawback with mental illness, and the nation would not do sufficient about it.

In case you are struggling, there are big, big waitlists to get psychological assist.

At my college, psychologists can be found, however typically it is advisable wait two or three months to get help.

What made the report much more shocking to me was that somebody I knew lately took her personal life as a result of she had a psychological sickness.

Sadly, I feel it’s normal right here to know somebody who has died by suicide.

(Based on the OECD’s most recent data, Lithuania has Europe’s highest suicide rate, with 20.3 deaths by suicide per 100,000 folks.)

In my view, there’s nonetheless a major stigma round psychological well being.

You do not need to inform somebody in case you have despair, bipolar dysfunction, or the rest. You simply maintain it a secret.

I consider issues aren’t nice for folks below 30, however our dad and mom had it even worse.

Older folks typically say, “You by no means lived within the Soviet Union. You do not know what it was like, but you’re so depressed on a regular basis.”

I’ve heard tales from my mom and grandmother about how life was again then — when bananas had been one thing you solely tasted every year, and getting correct meat was a luxurious.

It was tough in Soviet occasions.

Finally, I’m grateful that I wasn’t born within the Soviet Union. I used to be born in 2002, 11 years after we had gained independence.

And though Lithuania is not Denmark, the place I briefly lived and thought it was such a clear and ideal nation, I am nonetheless happy to live here.

It is not laborious to discover a job, wages are bettering, and it feels secure.

Placing psychological well being points apart, I’d say it is fairly an excellent place to dwell.

However nonetheless, Lithuania being the happiest place in the world for Gen Z? That actually surprises me.

When you or somebody is experiencing despair or has had ideas of harming themself or taking their very own life, get assist. Within the US, name or textual content 988 to succeed in the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, which gives 24/7, free, confidential help for folks in misery, in addition to finest practices for professionals and sources to help in prevention and disaster conditions.

Assist can also be obtainable via the Crisis Text Line — simply textual content “HOME” to 741741.

The International Association for Suicide Prevention affords sources for these outdoors the US.

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