The Making Of A Happy Mind 💗

Friday, February 24, 2017



BY LOUAI RAHAL

The mind, just like any other entity in nature, follows some specific laws. The mastery of these laws can be immensely helpful in improving mental health and generating happiness.





Long before the discipline of psychology was established, philosophers started providing answers to the question of how to reach happiness. Tested by science, some their claims have been refuted, while others were confirmed, and such as the following statement made by Epictetus in The Art of Living:

Cocaine was given only when rat A pressed a lever. In order to receive cocaine, rat B had to wait for rat A to press the lever: rat B was helpless, rat A was in control. And as expected, it was found that rat an experienced more pleasure from cocaine than rat B. The experimenters knew this by measuring the amount of dopamine released in the brains of the two rats. Rat A had more dopamine released in the pleasure centers of his brain. It is known that the more dopamine is released in the brain’s pleasure centers, the more pleasure we feel.

Control could therefore be one of the keys to happiness; it makes the pleasurable more pleasurable, and the stressful less stressful.

Feeling in control is an experience that we all pursue. However, this feeling is pursued through different means, some of which are problematic. Many individuals resort to harmful and sadistic practices in order to feel in control. They mistakenly believe that control means control over others and power means the ability to harm others.


Science has proven that control and power can be reached through prosocial practices such as altruism and kindness. The next blog entry will discuss the benefits of these practices on mental health.

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