‘Happiness’ should be a government goal, says independent report

The think tank CentreForum has today published a report, The pursuit of happiness: a new ambition for our mental health, which calls for a national strategy for wellbeing and for the ‘pursuit of happiness’ to be goal for government.

Paul Farmer, Chief Executive of Mind and who sat on the panel that wrote the report, said:
“This is an important report that clearly sets out the changes that are needed to improve mental wellbeing. Wellbeing is not simply a subjective feeling of happiness but is about feeling good and functioning well in society, having positive relationships and social connections, good health and a sense of purpose and satisfaction. This report rightly acknowledges that responsibility for mental wellbeing goes way beyond the NHS – it is affected by and impacts on every aspect of our lives and a national strategy is needed to stem the flow of people becoming unwell.

“Successive governments have only scratched the surface when it comes to policy around wellbeing. With a general election on the horizon, we want whoever forms the next government to be ambitious in their approach and embed a focus on wellbeing and mental health across all departments so that positive words in this report lead to concrete actions and ensure that everyone with mental health problems gets the support and respect that they deserve.”