Mark Roman | April 16, 2014 | Personal Injury

Every year, media organizations publish articles about “well-being” indexes for various places in the United States. Well-being indexes, as the name suggests, attempt to measure happiness and wellness among various groups of Americans. These groups are usually categorized by where they live, and wellness index articles often show lists rating cities or states across the country.

Gallup, the famous polling organization, recently released a survey ranking American cities for well-being of their residents. While the specific results are certainly interesting, they are not the focus of this article. What’s interesting for purposes of this article are the factors that make up well-being, and the implications for people who have suffered serious injury.

First, physical health was a solid predictor for well-being. This probably does not come as a shock to anyone. Unfortunately, seriously injured people are in poor health by definition. While many respond with optimism and determination to get better, many others struggle with depression, chronic pain, and other things which drag down their quality of life.

Second, there is a high correlation between income and well-being. Again, it’s no surprise that high earners have higher rates of well-being, while lower income earners have just the opposite. In fact, the Gallup survey found a striking correlation: in America’s happiest cities, typical household income was well above the national median. In unhappy cities, incomes were much lower than that median.

Of course, seriously injured people often deal with financial problems as well. For example, an injured person may be the family’s primary breadwinner. They may lose the ability to work because of the medical limitations resulting from their injuries. At the same time, they may incur five or six-figure medical bills through no fault of their own. A cascade of financial problems – sometimes even foreclosure or bankruptcy – can descend on them quickly. This is true even for people who were used to being prosperous all their adult lives.

Third, educational achievement appears to have a strong correlation with well-being. Gallup’s data showed that all the highest-ranked cities had a higher than average percentage of population with college degrees. Conversely, all the cities ranking lowest on the index had lower than average proportions of college graduates. This third factor suggests that seriously injured people might improve their circumstances through additional education. This is just one more thing that seems like common sense.

However, seriously injured people who are already hurting financially usually don’t have the money to go back to school. It takes years to get many degrees or certificates in technical fields, and many people can’t hold out that long. Even if they can, their physical or mental limitations may make it difficult to concentrate, sit through exams, and perform other tasks necessary for academic success.

To conclude, good health, stable finances, and education achievement are highly correlated with health and well-being. Serious injury is a perfect storm because it can destroy all those things at once.

We’ve seen enough articles telling us that people in Colorado are happier than people in Mississippi. It’s time to see more articles on how injuries to the body affect well-being.

Contact the Clearwater Personal Injury Law Firm of Roman Austin Personal Injury Lawyers for Help Today

For more information, please contact the legal team of Roman Austin Personal Injury Lawyers for a free initial consultation with a personal injury lawyer in Clearwater. We have four convenient locations in Florida: Clearwater, New Port Richey, and Tampa.

We serve throughout Pinellas County, Hillsborough County, Pasco County, and its surrounding areas:

Roman Austin Personal Injury Lawyers – Clearwater Office
1811 N. Belcher Road, Suite I-1
Clearwater, FL 33765
(727) 787-2500

Roman Austin Personal Injury Lawyers – Congress Ave Office
2360 Congress Avenue
Clearwater, FL 33763
(727) 591-5610

Roman Austin Personal Injury Lawyers – Tampa Office
6601 Memorial Hwy Suite 202
Tampa, FL 33615
(813) 686-7588

Roman Austin Personal Injury Lawyers – New Port Richey Office
2515 Seven Springs Blvd.
New Port Richey, FL, 34655
(727) 815-8442