I also remember hearing about this a long time ago. Then I read an actual analysis of the phenomenon. The reality is far less… life affirming?

iirc, the actual “bad case” was people who had lost limbs. Immediately aftet the loss of their limb, they understandably felt bad. But over time, they felt better. However, notably, on average they still felt worse than before they lost their limb. This makes sense - even if after you lose a leg, you find a new job that is just as fulfilling as your previous one and make great friends and find new hobbies that accomodate your limitations, you still are missing a leg, which is going to be annoying when you are, like, grocery shopping.

Meanwhile, the lottery winners saw a spike in happiness after winning the lottery. Again, understandable. But after a while, they had returned to their previous level of happiness or worse. Why? Because they had lost all the money. They spent it frivilously, gave it out as loans to friends and family who never repaid them, or had it stolen. Not were they just as poor as when they started, they had also had the experience of losing the money and probably some friends along the way.