Science of happiness slides
- 1. Science of Happiness MAS 2014 Dr Tony Fernando [email protected] Psychiatrist, Sleep Specialist PhD Candidate Senior Lecturer
- 2. DISCLAIMER Warning: Do not expect to be happy after this talk. Expecting to know everything about happiness in one hour is delusional and puts the speaker under undue and unrealistic pressure. Take whatever is relevant and throw away the rest. Listening to this talk could and might have serious effects on your finances, profession, relationships and sex life.
- 3. A FEW QUESTIONS Why are you in this meeting? Why are you married/partnered? Why did you brush (or not brush) your teeth this morning? Why are you in this profession? We do things because we just want to be ‘happy’ (feel good and avoid pain/ suffering)
- 4. MESSAGE #1 All of us want to be happy
- 6. SLEEP STUDY OF NZ SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS (N = 1388) Sleep Difficulties 517 (32.2%) Depression 267 (19.2%) Anxiety 231 (16.6%) Alcohol Problem 63 (4.5%) Drugs 28 (2%) Delayed Sleep Phase 69 (5%) Sleep walkers/talkers 48 (3.5%) Fernando, Samaranayake et al 2013 J Primary Health Care
- 7. MEDICAL AND NURSING STUDENTS (N= 745) Depression 12.8% Anxiety 12.8% (Females, Nursing) Alcohol Problem 14% (Maori, PI) Drugs 8.2% Suicidal Thoughts 6.4% Samaranayake Fernando Arroll et al 2013 submitted for publication
- 8. THOUGH ALL OF US WANT TO BE HAPPY, IN REALITY, THERE IS UNHAPPINESS AND DISSATISFACTION EVERYWHERE
- 9. IF HAPPINESS IS SO IMPORTANT (AND UNHAPPINESS IS EVERYWHERE) WHY DON’T WE STUDY AND LEARN IT?
- 10. POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY AND AFFECTIVE NEUROSCIENCE Positive Emotions Resilience Strengths
- 11. WHAT MAKES ME HAPPY? Feeling secure, content, loved Best person that I can be (with warts and all) Cuddling while watching mindless reality TV show All Blacks winning world cup (again) Pay cheque Nice yumcha lunch with friends and family Bach solo Cello suites Giving food to the homeless and being appreciated back What makes you happy?
- 12. CIRCUITRIES OF HAPPINESS Calm Contentment Excitement Drive Connection Compassion
- 13. CALM AND CONTENTMENT CIRCUITRY Feeling calm and safe is CRUCIAL for happiness Neurotransmitters: GABA. serotonin, endogenous opiods Alcohol, THC, benzodiazepines, SSRIs as exogenous calming agents Mind training techniques as internal calming agents Brief effects but overall baseline can be reset!
- 14. EXCITEMENT PLEASURE CIRCUIT Main neurotransmitter Dopamine VTA projections to nucleus accumbens and prefrontal cortex arousal, motivation, reward, pleasure extremely powerful and addicting short term, unsustainable
- 15. CONNECTION COMPASSION CIRCUIT Highest form of happiness sustainable internally reignited.
- 16. MESSAGE #1 All of us want to be happy
- 17. MESSAGE #2 There are traps in our search for happiness.
- 18. TRAP ANTIDOTE Desire to remove all the stressors Accept reality and train the brain to handle stressors Focus on external conditions like rank, appearance, possessions Not sustainable; so change the focus Expectation that good things will continue and life will go our way Universal law of impermanence Habituation and Pleasure Treadmill Gratitude practices Money We only need so much to be happy. Harvard research on sharing versus focussing on self. Powerful emotions Mind training In group versus out group Compassion
- 19. EMOTIONS/FEELINGS STATES Positive Emotions Fleeting Not sticky; easily forgotten Negative Emotions Very powerful Stick like tar; “negativity bias” We are a sponge for negativity!
- 20. Planning, reflection rumination Craving/desire obsession to acquire
- 21. MESSAGE #2 There are traps (within our brain!) in our search for happiness. Neural circuitry optimized for survival and not happiness.
- 22. MESSAGE #3 Brain is neuroplastic and can be trained to deal with the traps.
- 23. POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY INTERVENTIONS Mindfulness, living in the moment Gratitude Empathy and Compassion Self compassion Religion and Spirituality Dealing with negative thinking Better coping strategies Flow experiences Committing to goals Physical exercise Optimism Identifying and applying strengths
- 24. MINDFULNESS What do we see? Most minds are: wandering, easily distracted very reactive, sweat small stuff (limbic hijack of prefrontal cortex) prone to negativity Default Mind Network (DMN)- wandering and unhappiness; living too much in our head Allow us to see what’s happening inside our brain.
- 25. MINDFULNESS Continuous awareness of the present moment, accepting and without judgment Development of “mind’s eye” Not HIJACKED by negative thoughts/emotions/ judgments Emotional fitness Awareness of the process and not going inside the story Enhanced through practice of Mindfulness Meditation- formal and informal
- 26. MINDFULNESS Can be applied in most activities – eating, walking from carpark to office, washing the dishes, folding clothes… Practice, practice, practice Not different from trying to be physically fit or eating vegetables or not smoking
- 27. MINDFULNESS Benefits: (references can be provided on request) Better quality of life, subjective well being and mood, subjective health and sleep Lower stress, anxiety, depression, burnout, emotional exhaustion Less emotional reactivity Improved executive functioning, better attention, more situationally-appropriate decision making
- 28. MINDFULNESS Less physician errors, improved connection with patients Better sustained immune reaction to influenza vaccinations Greater telomerase activity, longer telomeres Increased left sided anterior activation (PFC) and reduced limbic activity
- 29. MINDFULNESS MEDITATION Iphone App: Mindfulness Mentalworkout; Smiling Minds Free online meditation guide: calm.auckland.ac.nz Mindfulness meditation prayer Look for local groups
- 30. GRATITUDE Turbo charger of happiness scores Easiest, most do-able Most popular Antidote to habituation Provides perspective
- 31. GRATITUDE EXERCISES 1. Gratitude diary at night for 6-8 weeks; 3-5 things; once a week versus nightly 2. Three good things exercise (Strath Haven High School Positive Psychology Curriculum) a) Write 3 good things that happened daily for a week b) Why did this happen? What does it mean to you? How can you have more of this good thing in the future?
- 32. EMPATHY AND COMPASSION Connection and helping behaviour is in our genes
- 33. EMPATHY AND COMPASSION EXPERIENCE BRAIN IMAGING Empathy: recognising another’s emotional state Inferior parietal cortex (understanding others) Compassion: wanting to alleviate suffering Dorsolateral PFC and communication with nucleus accumbens (emotion regulation and positive emotions)
- 34. EMPATHY AND COMPASSION From most if not all religious traditions: Golden rule “If you want to be happy, practice compassion” HHDL “True happiness consists in making others happy” Hindu proverb “Love your neighbour as you love yourself” Gospel of Luke
- 35. EMPATHY AND COMPASSION One of the highest and most sustainable sources of happiness If disconnected – worst form of unhappiness We are wired to feel good when we help (oxytocin surge) Even just thinking of past helpful behaviours make us feel good We sit on a goldmine of happiness
- 36. EMPATHY AND COMPASSION How can you develop genuine kindness? See everyone else (even other creatures) as similar to you Recognize and remember that even the most annoying person (“ou t group”) just wants to be happy; Truly understand the other person from their perspective Focusing on similarities with others instead of differences If you pray - try the compassion prayer instead of the “give me” prayer Mental Exercises to increase compassion: calm.auckland.ac.nz (guided meditations)
- 37. BARRIERS TO COMPASSION IN MEDICINE Fernando, Consedine Transactional Model of Physician Compassion, Journal of Pain and Symptom Management 2013 Fernando, Consedine Postgraduate Medical Journal (accepted for publication) 2014 1. Doctor burnout and stress 2. Difficult patients and families 3. External distractions 4. Complex situations
- 38. COMPASSION IN MEDICINE Possible interventions: 1. Managing stress, practicing mindfulness 2. Compassion meditation practice 3. Seeing difficult and annoying patients as suffering 4. Eliminating bullying within the medical hierarchy compassion amongst each other 5. Optimizing work environment 6. Awareness of compassion dynamics complexity drives down compassion
- 39. SELF COMPASSION (LACK OF) Tendency to beat ourselves up Perfectionism Unforgiving stance
- 40. SELF COMPASSION (self-compassion.org) Kindness to oneself Common humanity Mindfulness
- 42. READINGS/RESOURCES www.calm.auckland.ac.nz Art of Happiness - Dalai Lama and Howard Cutler Compassionate Mind - Paul Gilbert How of Happiness - Sonja Lyubomirsky Positivity - Barbara Frederickson Happiness - Matthieu Ricard Peace is Every Step - Thich Nhat Hanh Inner Ape, Bonobo and Atheist, The Age of Empathy - Frans De Waal http://www.authentichappiness.sas.upenn.edu website on Positive Psychology self-compassion.org