Health Hazard: Winning the Lottery

I'm not a lottery player except on rare occasions when the jackpot is over $200 million and I happen to be at a gas station and notice so I guess I don't have too much to worry about with regards to this study.

From the NYT...

A new working paper from Bénédicte Apouey and Andrew E. Clark finds that lottery winners are happier, but that their physical health declines. The researchers find that a “positive income shock” from a lottery “leads to better mental health two to three years later.” But they also find that lottery winnings “lead to worse lifestyles” — in particular, more smoking and more social drinking.

I don't recommend reading the working paper, it's pretty dry. Although the findings seem counterintuitive they make perfectsense to me. Poor bastards!