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“The Lottery Curse” vs. “Winning the Lottery Totally Does Make You Happy”
It’s complicated — but I think the curse might be real to some degree
On September 3rd, Margaret Loughrey, who won £27 million in 2014, died in her house. She was 56. Police said “no suspicious circumstances” were found.
The news report states that after winning the money, she’d donated a lot of money to charities, and at the same time bought houses and expensive cars. One year after the winning, she was perceived by a hospital as a danger to herself and others; her mental and physical health deteriorated. She also got into some legal troubles and was ordered to community services and monetary compensation. She claimed that the money ruined everything, and that she’d gone through hell because of that.
There are quite a few stories like that; many huge lottery winners ended up in misery or even death. The media even gave this a name: the lottery curse. But is it true? Is it possible that these poor “lucky” people are exceptions? For example, there are many plane crash stories, but statistics show that flying is in fact the safest method of transportation. We need to see the big picture.
As it turns out, many researchers did suggest there might be indeed such a thing as the curse of the lottery. The…
