Is Psychological Therapy Cost-Effective? - interesting research says VERY.

[DavidS]

from an article I read at Therapy 32 times more cost effective at increasing happiness than money :


Research by the University of Warwick and the University of Manchester finds that psychological therapy could be 32 times more cost effective at making you happy than simply obtaining more money.

Chris Boyce of the University of Warwick and Alex Wood of the University of Manchester compared large data sets where 1000s of people had reported on their well-being. They then looked at how well-being changed due to therapy compared to getting sudden increases in income, such as through lottery wins or pay rises. They found that a 4 month course of psychological therapy had a large effect on well-being. They then showed that the increase in well-being from an £800 course of therapy was so large that it would take a pay rise of over £25,000 to achieve an equivalent increase in well-being. The research therefore demonstrates that psychological therapy could be 32 times more cost effective at making you happy than simply obtaining more money.

Governments pursue economic growth in the belief that it will raise the well-being of its citizens. However, the research suggests that more money only leads to tiny increases in happiness and is an inefficient way to increase the happiness of a population. This research suggests that if policy makers were concerned about improving well-being they would be better off increasing the access and availability of mental health care as opposed to increasing economic growth .

Spread the word!! - getting your own therapy makes great financial sense. Many businessmen believe that it is a good investment for them, even when they had largely worked through their issues, and this research backs it up. The old joke about everyone in California having their own therapist may have some sound reasoning behind it.

And its sunny there as well!

[johannes]

Yes david,
+ it never rains in southern california...
+ they have beach boys
+ rescue swimming girls
+ Arnold
...
Do you like pina coladas?

[DavidS]

Do you like pina coladas?

At one time I indulged in a bit of home-brew, making wine out of anything. A lot of it was OK, but 'm afraid that my attention span was short and the wine-making process is long. I remember brewing strawberry wine, which smelt wonderful for a year in an outside toilet, but was virtually undrinkable.
I remember getting a brew your own pina colada kit, I joke not.
I've never been able to drink them since. Perhaps a good therapist might persuade me to try them again, but currently I think life's too short.