The Happiness Cure

in terms of technological advancements and material wealth, our world has far surpassed the wildest dreams of even the most lavish of ancient monarchs. and yet, happiness still eludes so many of us. despite living longer, healthier lives with the entirety of human knowledge just a swipe away, rates of depression and anxiety are climbing at an alarming rate. globally, millions battle with mental health issues daily, sparking urgent conversations about our emotional wellbeing. the question remains: why do we feel so bad when we ostensibly have it so good?

in this chapter, we’ll be getting to grips with this paradox. our guide will be the psychiatrist anders hansen. by retracing our evolutionary steps and examining how modern life strains our ancient biological programming, we’ll follow hansen as he illuminates why understanding our brains’ true nature is the key to managing mental health. lasting happiness, we’ll find, is intricately linked to our ancient biological needs. 

let’s turn the clock back some 250,000 years to east africa, where we meet a fellow proto-human named eve, who with her community is gathering food and hunting for survival. eve’s life is marked by the brutal reality of survival – out of her seven children, only three make it into adulthood. this pattern of mortality echoes through over 10,000 generations to us, eve’s modern descendants. our lineage is the story of survivors, those who overcame immense challenges – childbirth, disease, violence, and nature itself.

our genetic makeup has been profoundly shaped by these challenges. our ancestors who demonstrated keen awareness of dangers or possessed robust immune responses were more likely to survive. these adaptive traits, passed down through generations, are still with us today. as a consequence, our bodies and minds are engineered not for health or happiness, but primarily for survival and reproduction.

despite thousands of years of evolution, we closely resemble our hunter-gatherer ancestors in many physiological and psychological aspects. evolution moves slowly, and the rapid transition to modern lifestyles has occurred too quickly for our biological systems to catch up. our biological and psychological frameworks are still those of individuals adapted to ancient, often hostile environments.

this evolutionary perspective explains why our brains, developed to protect us from prehistoric threats, now manifest heightened vigilance as anxiety and stress in today’s relatively safer world. the very alertness that once ensured our ancestors’ survival now translates into modern psychological challenges, where physical threats are less frequent but mental stressors are everywhere.

understanding the deep-rooted connection between our past environments and current mental states illuminates the nature of our emotional and psychological experiences. it’s not just a grim view of human nature but a realistic framework that allows us to better understand and address contemporary mental health challenges. by recognizing the origins of our anxiety and stress as evolutionary tools for survival, we can more effectively adapt our responses to the modern world.

we can also gain fresh perspective on why we experience such a wide range of emotions – from joy to despair – and how these can be seen as adaptations that once served crucial survival functions. embracing our identity as modern-day hunter-gatherers with ancient wiring helps us explore new ways to align our primal instincts with the demands of contemporary life, and find well-being within the constraints of our evolutionary heritage.

imagine rushing home from work on a dark, rainy november evening. your mind buzzes with tasks: pick up your daughter, shop for dinner, finish household chores, complete work assignments. amid this whirlwind, as you cross the street, you almost get hit by a bus. this close call, avoided by a sudden, life-saving instinct to jump back, is orchestrated by a small but mighty part of your brain: the amygdala.

located deep within your temporal lobes, the amygdala acts like the brain’s sentinel. it processes sensory data from your surroundings – what you see, hear, taste, and smell – before this information reaches other parts of your brain. this swift processing can trigger an immediate physical reaction, crucial in life-or-death situations, like saving you from an oncoming bus.

but the brain’s monitoring doesn’t just examine external threats, it also looks at the internal state of our bodies. this is where the insula comes in, situated in the temporal lobe. the insula compiles information like heart rate and blood pressure, blending it with sensory data to create what we experience as feelings. these feelings are more than emotional responses; they’re survival tools designed to guide our behavior, from dodging dangers to deciding what to eat.

consider a mundane decision like eating a banana. without conscious deliberation, your brain evaluates its nutritional value against your body's current needs, culminating in a simple feeling: hunger or satiety. this intuitive process mirrors the decision-making that our ancestors, like eve, practiced in far riskier contexts – like assessing whether to climb a banana tree for food, weighing potential rewards against the risk of injury or predator attacks.

such decisions, driven by feelings, are shaped by millions of years of evolutionary pressures. only those ancestors whose feelings accurately guided their survival and reproductive success passed on their genes. so our feelings aren’t random; they’re finely tuned perceptions that have evolved to promote survival and reproduction.

understanding this evolutionary perspective sheds light on why our feelings are inherently fleeting. for instance, after eve successfully gathers bananas, she needs to continue seeking food to avoid starvation. so her satisfaction is short-lived, prompting her to do exactly that. similarly, our modern quests for achievements or material gains never truly satiate us – they're not meant to. feelings of wellbeing are designed to be temporary, pushing us to continually adapt and strive, even in a world that no longer resembles the environments we evolved in.

so really our emotions have a dual nature: they are both vital survival tools and sources of perpetual restlessness. recognizing this can help us navigate our feelings more effectively, understanding their purpose in a broader evolutionary context. these feelings, which once ensured the survival of our ancestors, now shape our complex, often stressful modern lives.

depression affects millions of people globally. in fact women have a one in four chance, and men a one in seven chance of experiencing it during their lifetimes. characterized by persistent sadness and a lack of interest in previously enjoyed activities, depression is not just about feeling down for a day; it’s an enduring state that can last for months, feeling more like an energy-saving mode rather than a mood fluctuation.

while often attributed to a deficiency in neurotransmitters like serotonin, dopamine, and noradrenaline, the reality of depression is far more complex. it involves various brain regions and systems, reflecting its profound impact on mental health. antidepressants, which influence these neurotransmitters, can be effective for many, yet they don’t fully capture the intricacies of the brain’s role in depression.

stress, particularly when prolonged and perceived as uncontrollable, is a common trigger for depression. it’s compounded by genetic predispositions, which vary among individuals. for some, even minor stressors can induce depression, whereas others may withstand significant life challenges without any depressive symptoms. this variability is captured in the saying, “genes load the gun, the environment pulls the trigger.”

despite extensive research, no specific “depression gene” has been identified, posing a conundrum given the evolutionary disadvantage of such a prevalent predisposition. interestingly, the ability to develop depressive symptoms might historically have been an evolutionary defense mechanism against infections, which were a significant threat throughout human history.

in pre-modern times, infectious diseases like pneumonia, tuberculosis, and gastrointestinal infections were rampant, claiming lives at a staggering rate. the immune system, which utilizes 15-20 percent of the body’s energy, cannot be constantly active, so it needs triggers like stress in order to activate. stress historically indicated a higher risk of infection, which would prompt an immune response.

this backdrop illuminates the concept of the behavioral immune system, where certain behaviors, influenced by our feelings, help avoid infection risks. feelings of depression may represent an evolved strategy to conserve energy for fighting infections or to avoid exposure to pathogens. by withdrawing for a while, our ancestors would have been more ready for the next dangerous immune attack.  

so we can see depression not only as a mental health issue but also as a complex interplay of behavioral and physiological responses finely tuned by evolution. in the context of modern life’s different stressors and the absence of constant infectious threats, this manifests as what we now recognize as clinical depression.

in a notable uk study, 150,000 participants performed a six-minute cycling test and a handgrip strength assessment to explore potential links between physical fitness and mental health. seven years later, follow-up evaluations revealed that those who initially scored higher on these fitness tests were significantly less likely to develop symptoms of depression and anxiety. this correlation held true even after adjusting for variables such as age, smoking habits, education, and income levels. the study robustly suggests that maintaining physical fitness can halve the risk of depression and also diminish the likelihood of anxiety.

a meta-analysis of various studies conducted in 2020 consolidates these findings across the scientific community, confirming that physical activity serves as a preventive measure against depression. the physiological explanation for this protective effect lies in the impact of exercise on the body’s stress-response system, particularly the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal – or hpa – axis.

the hpa axis involves the hypothalamus signaling the pituitary gland, which in turn stimulates the adrenal glands to release cortisol, a hormone associated with energy mobilization and stress response. exercise influences this axis by initially increasing cortisol during physical activity, which may seem counterproductive. however, post-exercise, cortisol levels not only drop but stabilize at lower rates, contributing to a prolonged calming effect after physical exertion.

long-term regular exercise further modifies the functionality of the hpa axis, enhancing the brain’s capacity to manage stress. key areas of the brain, such as the hippocampus and the frontal lobe, are strengthened through exercise. the hippocampus may increase in size, improving memory and stress regulation, while the frontal lobe benefits from enhanced blood flow and oxygen delivery, boosting cognitive functions and emotional stability.

but that’s not all. physical activity also enriches the quality of internal signals sent to the brain, fundamentally improving how feelings are formed and experienced. the insula, an area of the brain that integrates internal physical states with external stimuli to generate emotional experiences, receives enriched inputs from a well-exercised body. this leads to a greater likelihood of experiencing positive feelings and a reduced risk of negative emotions like those associated with depression.

overall, the evidence strongly supports physical activity not only as a means of enhancing physical health but as a crucial component in preventing depression. this suggests that interventions aimed at increasing physical fitness could be a key strategy in mental health prevention and management, reinforcing the necessity of incorporating regular exercise into daily routines for long-term emotional and psychological well-being.

happiness is often perceived as a continuous state of pleasure and contentment, but in reality, it’s more about feeling satisfied with life’s direction and having a sense of long-term purpose. interestingly, the pursuit of happiness might be best approached by not focusing on it directly. the less we care about achieving happiness, the better our chances are of experiencing it. this counterintuitive approach is grounded in understanding how our brains process expectations and reality.

when you walk into a familiar room, your brain already anticipates the sensory experience based on past memories. if reality aligns with these predictions, there’s no significant mental response. however, if something unexpected occurs, it catches your attention. our brains operate this way constantly, comparing real-time experiences with preconceived expectations. this mechanism can influence our overall happiness, especially when our expectations are set too high, which often leads to disappointment.

during the 2020 pandemic, studies found that despite the health crisis, more people in the uk reported feeling healthier than in previous years. this paradox can be explained by a shift in expectations. with constant news of the pandemic’s toll, minor health issues seemed less significant, raising individuals’ perceptions of their own health.

our happiness is also significantly affected by social comparison. we might feel content with our life’s circumstances until we see someone else with something better, which suddenly diminishes our satisfaction. this social gauge often skews our perception of happiness, making it a moving target that’s defined more by others’ situations than by our own contentment.

that’s why advertising can have such a powerful effect on our happiness. the more we’re bombarded with images of idealized lives, the higher our expectations climb, and the more likely we are to feel dissatisfied with our own reality. research demonstrates that after reading articles that glorify happiness, people get less out of enjoyable activities because their heightened expectations aren’t met.

in reality, happiness should not be seen as a constant high but as a balanced and achievable state that includes ups and downs. it emerges more naturally when we engage in activities that give us a sense of purpose and connect us to something larger than ourselves. people often find genuine happiness not while at their goal but during the journey toward something meaningful.

so, if you’re seeking happiness, perhaps the best advice is to relax your focus on it. instead, invest in activities that fulfill you and contribute to a greater cause. by lowering the pressure to feel perpetually happy and embracing life’s ebbs and flows, you allow happiness to find you in more authentic and sustainable ways.

in this chapter to the happiness cure by anders hansen, you’ve learned that human happiness and emotional experiences are deeply rooted in evolutionary survival strategies. our bodies and brains, designed primarily for survival and reproduction, often express ancient survival mechanisms as modern emotional responses, such as anxiety and depression. 

physical fitness not only enhances overall health but also significantly lowers the risk of depression by influencing the body’s stress-response systems. and happiness is more likely to be found when not directly pursued, as focusing too much on achieving it often leads to disappointment. engaging in meaningful activities without the pressure of constant happiness leads to a more sustainable well-being.

okay, that’s it for this chapter. we hope you enjoyed it. if you can, please take the time to leave us a rating – we always appreciate your feedback. see you in the next chapter.