Scotland and pessimism

Scotland seems to be in the grip of an epidemic of pessimism and low self-esteem. There are several indicators of malaise: the Scottish suicide rate is double the English one, and antidepressant prescribing is 40% higher. A new UN report says that Scotland is the most violent country in the developed world. Scottish children are among the least confident anywhere, according to the World Health Organization. Glasgow is a city with a reputation for bad health and diet.

Some people believe that the forbidding, somewhat repressive nature of Calvinism is responsible for the dour Scottish psyche. Puritanism, after all, is Calvinist, although it is Presbyterianism, another form of Calvinims, that prevails in Scotland.
"We're a culture that encourages feelings of lack of self-worth. We're a culture that goes out of its way to make sure people don't feel good about themselves," says the Scottish psychologist Dr Carol Craig.

From a young age, Scots are taught humility, modesty and conformity. Scottish humour often derides those who "get above their station". Dr Craig hypothesizes that the high rate of emigration from Scotland has stripped the country of optimists and left too many pessimists behind. Could any of this be linked to the fact that men in one part of Glasgow, Shettleston, have a life expectancy of 64? (Scottish men, on average, live to 73.) And that west Scotland is the unhealthiest region in Europe, with high rates of heart disease, cancer and strokes? There seems to be a causal link between happiness and health.