(POLL) Afghanistan and Lebanon have unhappiest people in the world

The following is an excerpt from Gallup News.

Unhappiness continued to rise worldwide in 2021, as the world overall became a sadder, more worried and more stressed-out place. But in two countries -- Afghanistan and Lebanon -- more people were living in misery than anywhere else on the planet.

Last year, Afghanistan and Lebanon posted the two highest scores in the world -- 59 and 58 -- on Gallup's Negative Experience Index, which is a composite measure of people's daily experiences of sadness, stress, worry, anger and physical pain.

The high scores for Afghanistan and Lebanon in 2021 notably displaced Iraq -- which still ranked among the top most miserable countries -- from the No. 1 spot on the Negative Experience Index that it had occupied for the two previous years.

Most of the countries with the highest scores on the Negative Experience Index were contending with some type of economic or political instability in 2021 that is mirrored in their emotional health.

When Gallup surveyed Afghanistan as the Taliban retook control last year and as the U.S. withdrew its troops, Afghans' emotional state reflected the chaos and uncertainty.

Worry, stress and sadness soared to record-high levels in Afghanistan and were the highest in the world in 2021: 80% of Afghans were worried, 74% were stressed, and 61% were sad. 

In Lebanon, political instability and government ineffectiveness have become the norm, but the country's latest economic meltdown has been harder on people than any of its struggles since the civil war. 

As life in Lebanon became harder, negative emotions surged to record highs. Nearly three in four people (74%) said in 2021 that they experienced stress "a lot of the day" during the previous day.

About half of people in Lebanon also said they experienced a lot of sadness (56%) and anger (49%). Lebanon led the world in anger in 2021.

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