When you don't struggle for necessities like food, heating, clothes etc you lose that true sense of purpose. Not saying it's good being poor but we're animals after all and have certain base instincts.
People speak in a similar way about the blitz in London. It was terrible but admissions to mental hospitals dropped which was the opposite of what the government expected at the time.
The easier life is the harder it is in some ways is what I'm trying to say I guess