The Making Of A Happy Mind 💗
Friday, February 24, 2017BY 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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