Are Academics Ever Happy?

Just a question I've been asking myself for a while. One of my (Perhaps MOST) favorite professors just wrote me a book of an email to me about how disenchanted he is with his life in academia. He is certainly not the first.

Another great professor of mine in grad school (an archaeologist...the one I had a HUGE crush on) can hardly have a family because of everything he's expected to do. My other professors are always stressed out about something, having relationship issues, and NEVER have sex with their partners. It's not like the pay makes up for it, either.

So they all complain to their students about how wretched their lives are, how much political shit they have to deal with, the increasing size of their work loads, and budget cuts. They never can separate their work from their personal life, so insecurities and validation issues in their romantic relationships abound. You can imagine how difficult having a relationship with an academic would be.

I feel sorry for my professors. They're wonderful, brilliant people, and I love them. I want contentment for them so badly that it hurts my soul. However, it doesn't seem to be too prevalent among academics.

I used to think this was my path. A Ph.D. is super-impressive and the allure of being a specialist used to be my motivation for go further in my studies. However, more and more people are getting these degrees now, so they're not just reserved for the elite. No perks in particular come to mind, so I don't understand where the benefit in choosing this path would be. There comes a point when "doing what you love" becomes just "doing." That's when you exist, instead of living. I would kill myself before my life ever came to this. From what I'm told, this happens a lot to academics, which makes me so sad.

After getting closer with my professors and realizing what an emotionally unhealthy lifestyle they have, I'm very glad that I'm where I am now. Happy, healthy, in love with life. 'Baller', rather than 'Doctor', you could say.