Unhappy children, unhappy adults?

A miserable childhood is likely to result in greater levels of depression and anxiety in middle age. So suggests a recent study that followed over 7000 people born between 1950 and 1955. Undertaken by researchers at King's College, London, the study showed that children who had been described by teachers as 'miserable' or 'unhappy' were five times more likely to be sick and off-work in their forties.

Of course, such a study does not imply causality but, nonetheless, the connection is interesting. Nurture (or rather lack of it) as opposed to nature, especially as the study showed that those children who were physically unwell during childhood demonstrated no difference in rate of being sick in middle-aged.

I'd probably throw the findings of this paper in that my childhood was reasonably happy and my health is probably less than ideal now. How does this fit in with your experience?

If you want to know more, you can read the abstract for the paper from the British Journal of Psychiatry here and the BBC News article as detailed below.

Resources

Henderson, M., Hotopf, M., & Leon, D. A. (2009). Childhood temperament and long-term sickness absence in adult life. British Journal of Psychiatry, 194, 220-223.

Unhappy children end up 'unwell'. BBC News, March 02 2009

Happiness is an electrode in my brain

In response to the earlier post on happiness, someone talked about the pursuit of happiness being similar to the quest for the Holy Grail.

Following that quest, scientists are currently looking to extend work in deep brain stimulation to promote happiness.

Having isolated the areas of the brain relating to pleasure in rats in the 1950s, the work was extended to humans in the 1960s, placing electrodes deep within the brain. Electrical stimulation led to feelings of wellbeing, so much so that the subjects repeatedly self-administered electrical shocks to the area. However, the feelings of pleasure stopped immediately the stimulation ceased.

Today, this early work has been extended and implemented successfully in medicine for pain management and Parkinson's Disease. Individuals are now able to control their pain by using a switch mounted in the chest to deliver voltage to an electrode in the pain centres of their brain.

This has again reawakened interest in the artificial manipulation of happiness. Certainly, this has the potential to provide feelings of pleasure but is this truly happiness? Happiness is more than a fleeting feeling. Most people would define happiness as a longer term, pervasive sense of contentment. And in experiencing a constant euphoria, wouldn't many other experiences be missed?

Professor Paul Salkovskis, clinical psychologist at King's College London made an interesting point in relation to artificial means of creating happiness.

"It seems to me that drugs as a solution to unhappiness are rather similar to kind of, you know, say plastic surgery to enhance your beauty or whatever."

We all know how popular plastic surgery has become.

If your continued happiness could be guaranteed by an electrode in your brain, would you take that leap?

Read the full story at Scientist's Short-Cut to Happiness

Failing at happiness?

True happiness is more than feeling good

As a follow on to yesterday's post, some counterarguments about the need to be taught how to be happy. In the interest of balance, while the article is a little dismissive of the potential benefits of the program offered by Dr. Baylis, it does raise some valid points.

What about the experience of the natural highs and lows of life? Is the pursuit of constant happiness supposed to gloss over the lows everyone will experience in the cycle of life?

Is, therefore, the idea of a constant state of happiness delusional?

Does the current push towards happiness simply create an additional stressor for the individual, something else that people might feel they failed at if they can't pull it off?

Failing at happiness? Can only guess what that might do for a fragile self-esteem.

Learning to be happy.....and healthy?

"It is not God's will merely that we should be happy,

but that we should make ourselves happy"

Immanuel Kant

A British school has decided to offer students classes in happiness. Students will now receive training in life skills including how to manage relationships, physical and mental health, negative emotions and how to achieve one's ambitions.

Anthony Seldon, Master of Wellington College in Berkshire, states, "Celebrity, money and possessions are too often the touchstones for teenagers and yet these are not where happiness lies. Our children need to know that as societies become richer, they don't become happier -- a fact regularly shown by social science research."

The program is being supervised by Dr. Nick Baylis, who lectures on Positive Psychology at Cambridge University. In contrast to what many perceive as psychology's focus on the negative aspects of life, positive psychology examines how to achieve a healthy, successful and satisfying life, beneficial to both the individual and their community.

Similarly, in Australia, there has been a significant increase in the focus on the promotion of happiness. Dr Timothy Sharp, a Sydney-based Clinical Psychologist, has set up The Happiness Institute, an organisation devoted exclusively to the pursuit of happiness, and it's big business. Happiness is definitely the buzzword of the moment. Companies across Australia are making use of the services offered by the Institute with the goal of improving staff performance through fostering a positive outlook on life and work.

What does this have to do with health?

While the relationship between negative emotional states, such as depression, and health problems has been well documented, there have been few studies that have examined the impact of positive emotions on health.

A recent study by Andrew Steptoe, Jane Wardle and Michael Marmot from University College, London has attempted to rectify that. These British researchers have discovered evidence of a biological connection between a positive sense of well-being and reduced risk for disease among middle-aged men and women. The study revealed that being happy was directly related with specific bodily functions that protect against cardiovascular disease, diabetes, autoimmune deficiencies, and stress-related illnesses.

A key finding was that the happiest women and men had the lowest levels of cortisol, commonly known as the stress hormone. Higher levels of this hormone have been linked to a greater risk of disease, including high blood pressure, poor immune system function and diabetes. Happier individuals were also shown to have lower levels of a liver produced protein called plasma fibrinogen, high levels of which have been associated with a higher risk for cardiovascular disease. Heart rates in male subjects were also lower.

These findings remained significant after controlling for psychological distress.

While the study doesn't prove that happiness was responsible for those outcomes, it does suggest that improving our level of happiness could be important in terms of our health.

Read the study

How do we increase our happiness?

That's a difficult question to answer because what constitutes happiness varies according to the individual. As Dr. Steptoe says, "I can't really prescribe how people should make themselves happier, because philosophers have failed at that for centuries. Most of our sense of happiness seems to relate to having good relationships with family and friends, and that's not something that can be maintained without some investment of effort, and keeping an appropriate balance. That balance, of course, is going to be different for different people."

For further consideration, some hints on being happy now courtesy of Dr. Timothy Sharp at The Happiness Institute.