Life ticks along, you cope with most of it, but something underneath still feels off.
That half-lit, in-between state turns out to be closer to the global norm than many of us would guess.
A new global survey led by Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health found that only 6.5 percent of adults qualify as "flourishing" mentally.
The study was recently published in the journal Social Indicators Research and covered nearly 50,000 adults across 92 countries.
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In the study, flourishing meant scoring at least 60 out of 70 on ten well-being statements while showing few signs of depression or anxiety.
The ten statements covered things like vitality, optimism, self-esteem, engagement, and a sense of competence in daily life.
Young adults carry the heaviest load
The group that pulled the global average down the most was young adults.
Across the full sample, people aged 18 to 25 scored lowest on vitality, emotional stability, and resilience compared with every older age group.
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In a statement from Columbia Mailman School of Public Health, lead author Kai Ruggeri called the figures a "flashing red light that entire populations are already struggling."
The age divide lines up with a growing body of research showing young people are now the unhappiest generation in many high-income countries.
Where the flourishing few pulled ahead
The highest-scoring parts of the survey, across all 92 countries, were close relationships, a sense of meaning, personal competence, and engagement with daily life.
The lowest scores were on optimism and vitality.
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The researchers read that gap as a telling one.
People tend to feel positive about the parts of life they shape directly, like their relationships and sense of purpose.
They feel more negative about forces around them that seem outside their control.
The 93.5 percent who fell short of the flourishing bar still scored relatively well on relationships and meaning.
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The harder lifts, across every country in the survey, were optimism and vitality.
The survey ran between June and August 2025 in 50 languages, with 261 volunteer researchers running the local arms of the project.
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This article is made and published by Ida-Marie Palm Varbæk, who may have used AI in the preparation.