The Causes of Happiness

One would think that the difference in levels of happiness between a lottery winner and someone who has been permanently disabled by injury would be vast and long term, but the British Medical Journal reports that a year after either event people return to their previous level of happiness.  A group of psychologists conducted an on-going survey about happiness.  When asked to rate their overall level of happiness on a scale from one to ten, most people indicated about 6.7.  The researchers found that a divorce or serious injury caused this level to go down a point or two for around a year,  but it then usually returned to the normal level.  Winning the lottery or falling in love raised the level a point or two for about one year, but then it went back to the previous level.    What the study found is that a slight increase in happiness that could be sustained is more significant than dramatic life events; in other words, if you find small things that make you feel happy and expose yourself to them on a regular basis, your overall level of happiness will be greater than generated by a winning lottery ticket.

The brain chemistry of happiness is complex, but it appears that it directly affects our physical health – happy people are healthier than unhappy people.  In addition, studies have shown that people who are mostly happy live longer.  It seems that happiness adds years to life, as well as life to years.       Happiness causes biochemical changes in the brain that in turn have profoundly positive effects on the body’s physiology.  Several neurotransmitters, chemicals that  control signaling in the central nervous system and affect our overall mood, are pivotal to optimal brain chemistry:  when the brain produces  serotonin, tension is eased.  When it produces dopamine or norepinephrine, people are more alert and able to think and act more quickly.  Scientists have discovered that some foods influence the brain’s production of these neurotransmitters.  Complex carbohydrates contribute to increased levels of serotonin and protein foods promote the production of dopamine and norepinephrine.        Not just our diet, but our thoughts, emotions and behaviors affect body chemistry.  Since thoughts are under our conscious control – we can consciously choose to think any particular thoughts – the very act of thinking is practicing brain chemistry.   Unhappy, angry or hostile thoughts bring about incredible physiological changes, including a rise in blood pressure and rapid heart beat (“there is no twisted thought without a twisted molecule”), whereas happy thoughts of all kinds – loving thoughts, thoughts of tranquility, of compassion, kindness, generosity and warmth – produce a corresponding state of  healthy physiology because the neurotransmitters produced by those thoughts have a stimulating effect.   We know the body’s immune system is weakened by feelings of anger, resentment or gloom;  happy thought patterns should serve to increase the body’s resistance to disease through a similar, but reversed, effect.      Some studies indicate that we can blame some degree of unhappiness on genetics.  The strongest evidence that happiness is inherited comes from a study of identical twins separated at birth conducted by David Lykken, a professor emeritus at the University of Minnesota.  His studies found that 60 percent of the state of happiness or unhappiness is accounted for by common genetic factors and not by environment.   However, the genetic theories cannot explain findings from several important studies showing that happiness is infectious.    In an article in the British Medical Journal,  two professors from Harvard Medical School and the University of California  reported that their research shows that  happiness really does rub off.  The authors state that happiness is not just an individual experience or choice, but is dependent on the happiness of others to whom individuals are connected directly and indirectly, and requires close proximity to spread.  For example, a friend who becomes happy and lives within a mile increases your likelihood of happiness by 25 percent; the effect declines and becomes less significant at greater distances.   Interestingly, it is not only immediate social ties that impact levels of happiness;  the relationship between people’s happiness can extend up to three degrees of separation.   The findings suggest that people who are surrounded by happy people are likely to be happy themselves and that these “clusters” of happiness really do come as a result of  the happiness being spread, not just from the tendency for people to associate with similar individuals.      Benjamin Franklin said, “The Constitution only gives people the right to pursue happiness. You have to catch it yourself."  Regardless of the genetics of happiness, we can improve our own brain chemistry by changing our thoughts, eating foods that enhance brain behavior and by keeping company with happy people.