HAPPINESS 101 WITH TAL BEN-SHAHAR

Ben-Shahar is a Harvard lecturer who offers some advice on how to be happy gleaned from scientific and scholarly research. Here are some of the slides from his program on PBS.

Positive Psychology
The objective of positive psychology is to unite the rigor of academic research with the accessibility of the self-help movement.

The Permission to be Human

Unconditional Acceptance
* Paradox - the more you suppress something, the worse that emotion can get
* Not resignation - not just accepting and not caring
* Active acceptance - feel the feeling and go ahead with it

Do we give ourselves and others - our family, students, friends, and colleagues - the permission to be human?

Dealing with Stress
Too much to do --> Stress (feeling overwhelmed? --> Depression

The Cost of Stress
* Psychological health - average age of onset of depression is 14
* Physical health - weak immune system due to stress
* Reduced productivity and creativity - stress causes us to narrow our focus

Simplify!
* Do less, not more (quantity affects quality) - imagine listening to your favorite songs all at the same time, it's just too much
* Reduce multi-tasking (quantity and quality)

Stress is not the problem . . . Lack of recovery is the problem
It's like working-out. Your muscles break-down, but get stronger with proper rest.

The need for multi-level recovery
- Micro (minutes, hours)
- Mezzo (nights, days)

The Mind-Body connection

Overcoming Depression
* 156 patients with major depressive disorder
- Three groups
* Exercise
*Psychiatric medication
* Exercise & psychiatric medication

* Results (16 weeks)
- All three groups improved >(60%)
- No significant differences among groups

* 10-month follow-up
- Relapse medication: 38%
- Relapse medication & exercise: 31%
- Relapse exercise: 9%

Overcoming Depression
* Not exercising is like taking depressants

Exercise Revolution
* Obesity goes down
* School performance goes up
* Violence goes down

Exercise: The Unsung Hero

In a way, exercise can be thought of as a psychiatrist's dream treatment. It works on anxiety, on panic disorder and on stress in general, which has a lot to do with depression. And it generates the release of neurotransmitters - nor-epinephrine, serotonin, and dopamine - that are very similar to our most important psychiatric medicines. Having a bout of exercise is like taking a little bit of Prozac and a little bit of Ritalin, right where it is supposed to go."
- John Ratey

The Mind of a Meditator
* Left-to-right ration in prefrontal cortex - more activity in the left pre-frontal cortex means higher levels of happiness while more activity in the right means higher levels of sadness.

Mindfulness meditation (Kabat-Zinn)
* Decrease in anxiety
* Mood change
* Pre-frontal cortex activation
* Immune response

Breathing
Shallow breathing --> stress/anxiety
Deep breathing --> calm/well-being

If I had to limit my advice on healthier living to just one tip, it would be simply to learn how to breathe correctly.
- Andrew Weil M.D.

Focusing on the Positive

Must something external and extraordinary happen before we learn to appreciate the ordinary?
No, not if you can cultivate the habit of gratitude.

Research on Gratitude
* Emmons and McCullough (2002)
- Four groups: gratitude, hassles, superior, control asked to write five things each night based on group.
- Psychological and health benefits to gratitude group.