“One in eight adults uses antidepressants, yet we have never been healthier, more affluent or richer than at any other time in history.” Anders Hansen is a psychiatrist and, in his most recent book, “Why do we feel bad when everything is going well?”, addresses a neurobiological perspective on happiness.
In an interview with VISÃO, the author explains that the two most important things we can learn about the brain are that “it has not changed during the last 10,000 years and “the brain never evolved to be happy”. But we are not condemned to feel bad.
The chapter “The Happiness Trap” can be read here
He begins his book with the phrase “Before the brain, the universe was a place free of pain and anxiety”. Do you want to explain why this phrase means so much to you?
Because anxiety and depression seem like something that affects us, that comes from outside, but in fact they are created by the brain. There is no separate road to happiness, joy, anxiety or anger that does not go through the brain. If we want to understand mood, well-being, feelings – understand ourselves – we have to start with the brain.
Why is the perspective of this book different from others?
The book examines questions about human well-being and mental health from the perspective of biology and the brain. It’s not just how the brain works, but why it works. Many of the readers said that they understood themselves better after reading the book and that they became kinder to themselves. And that made me very happy, I think it’s the best criticism you can get.
Do you agree that we are currently facing a mental health crisis?
Yes, and this is an extremely important crisis, as well-being and mental health are ultimately what matters most to us. The economy has more than doubled in the last 25 years. But people’s mental health has not improved, in fact, for teenagers it has worsened.
Therefore, we must take a step and ask: what are we doing wrong? I think we could feel much better if we knew how feelings and moods are created in ourselves, and that’s exactly what I want to show.
Nature’s greatest hoax is to make us believe that if we just follow our instincts and do what makes us feel good, we will be happy.
Says humans are not biologically prepared for happiness…
The brain’s main function is not to be happy, intelligent or creative. It’s simply keeping us alive. Half of all humans died before becoming teenagers for 99.9% of our history. They did not die from cardiovascular diseases or cancer – which kills us today – but from infections, hunger, homicides and accidents.
As we are all the last generation in an unbroken line of survivors, we have defense mechanisms against infections, hunger, homicides and accidents. One of these mechanisms is to be aware that danger is everywhere and prepare for the worst. Seeing danger in this way is what we call anxiety today.
Having anxiety doesn’t mean you have a weak brain, it means you have a strong brain that does everything it can to keep you alive. We, psychiatrists, know how important this reformulation can be: those who deal with a lot of anxiety stop seeing themselves as something damaged, broken or as a victim.
What, for you, is the concept of happiness?
The definition of happiness used in psychiatric research is being satisfied with one’s long-term direction in life. If you agree with this definition – which I personally do – science makes it clear that the most important thing you can do to be happy is: relationships, relationships, relationships.
This is not surprising, since humans are an ultrasocial species. Not because it’s fun to have friends around, but because having friends saved the lives of our ancestors. Being isolated from the group meant certain death for almost every previous generation of humans. This is why social rejection hurts so much.
The most important thing you can do to be happy is: relationships, relationships, relationships
Furthermore, our incredibly strong social needs evolved over millions of years when face-to-face relationships existed and cannot be replaced by a screen.
Hence the great concern with social networks.
Social media is not only bad, but it was designed to attract as much of our attention as possible. And when we spend more than 5 to 6 hours a day in front of screens, more than half on social media, we don’t do the things that are important for our well-being: real-life meetings, exercise and sleep.
And when we expose ourselves too much to the facades and influences of other people who have “perfect” lives, we feel worthless. We feel like we’re not good enough and we’re not part of the group. This appears to be especially harmful to teenage girls.
So why does the brain turn to social media if, in the end, it makes us feel bad? Because the brain doesn’t look for happiness, it tries to find what’s good in the moment and that’s a trap. Nature’s biggest hoax is making us believe that if we just follow our instincts and do what makes us feel good, we will be happy. These instincts helped us survive in a dangerous world where resources were scarce, but they don’t make us happy in a safe world of overabundance, surrounded by social networks designed to get our attention.
As a man who is passionate about the human brain, what would you say is the greatest capacity of this organ?
The brain is the most complex structure we know in the universe. The brain is capable of wonderful things and at the same time has huge Achilles heels. What is truly remarkable is that the brain can study itself, learn about its own weaknesses and work around them. And thus, becoming stronger. If that isn’t incredibly impressive and precious, I ask you what is!
