
How to make yourself happier in just a few seconds - bumbledraven
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2746912/
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ardit33
I thought this article would be about hookers and blow... nevermind.

Basically: When imagining about a happy event it is better to imagine what
would have been if you didn't have something you have right now (eg. gf/bf,
school education, good job, food on the table, nice pad), rather then thinking
about "what if x" happened, where x is something that you wish it happens to
you; like winning the lottery, getting a gf., a job, whatever.

So, I guess this study plays on two things: 1\. You have to have something
nice in your life that you cherish about. 2\. The "loss aversion" feelings in
humans, makes you think it would really suck if you lost it, and you are happy
to have that thing (as it puts a larger value to something you already have).

Works for some people I guess. If your life really sucks, then you could say
"well, it could get worse, look at those kids in haiti. I should be happy for
what I have, and hey, my life doesn't suck that much in comparison. "

~~~
_delirium
If I'm reading it correctly, it looks like it also makes a difference how you
approach the things you _do_ have. They found that thinking about what it'd be
like if you'd never met your significant other, for example, made you more
happy than reminiscing about how you _did_ meet him/her.

------
awa
Actual headline: It’s a Wonderful Life: Mentally Subtracting Positive Events
Improves People’s Affective States, Contrary to Their Affective Forecasts

~~~
mortenjorck
The study results certainly seem to point to the neurological reasons for the
success of Frank Capra's classic referenced in the headline.

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ams6110
What's weird is that you can think back and realize how random almost
everything in your life is. For example, if I had gotten the job I applied for
at Arby's when I was 16, in 1982, I would very likely never have met my wife,
though I didn't meet her until I was 21.

~~~
JacobAldridge
My entire career came about because the Australian Government banned Kubrick's
_A Clockwork Orange_. It was finally released in 2000 - I was a journalism
student at the time, and the university cinema was playing it. In the time
between my final class and the film beginning, I was killing time in the
student union building.

They had a jobs board in the building, and I read one asking for a 'casual
sales administrator' ('saturday girl') in a real estate office. Figuring real
estate was a practical life skill to learn through a part time uni job, I
noted the details and applied.

Being brilliant, I got the job, fell in love with the property industry and on
graduation decide to pursue _it_ rather than journalism. That led to a few
promotions, and directly into the field of training business owners in the
real estate industry, which then led me to my current career (business
coaching).

If it weren't for the ban and subsequent delayed release, I might be a working
journalist! And to think I've been railing against the Australian government's
draconian view of censorship.

Edit: Feeling happier already.

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dylanz
I thought this article was going to make me happy within a few seconds of
clicking this link. It didn't :)

~~~
teej
Just think about how your life would have been if you hadn't read that link!

~~~
klipt
10 minutes longer!

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dschobel
I see that Daniel Gilbert is one of the authors of this study, author of
[http://www.amazon.com/Stumbling-Happiness-Daniel-
Gilbert/dp/...](http://www.amazon.com/Stumbling-Happiness-Daniel-
Gilbert/dp/1400077427/) .

If you have yet to read it and have any interest in the psychology of
happiness (and I can't imagine a sentient human who wouldn't have such an
interest), do so post-haste.

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jrockway
Personally, I just go for something containing sugar and caffeine.

~~~
pavs
I completely gave up caffeine two weeks ago, I have never felt better. I was
one of those guys who relied on coffee everyday, a day without coffee was
unimaginable. But it also used to make me cranky, lazy (when the caffeine wore
off), screw up my sleep pattern; high anxiety and sometimes depressed.

I figured if I could stop drinking coffee and try to find alternatives of the
benefits of coffee (alertness), I could get rid of the disadvantages. The
first few days were tough, I had intense headaches without coffee. But after I
fixed my sleep pattern, started doing more workouts and replaced coffee with
mint (decafienated) tea in the morning to help me wake up. I felt more alert
and overall my mood has been better. I can say that I am happier because I
stopped drinking coffee. :)

YMMV.

~~~
bugs
I'm curious to how you got into the using coffee for energy (especially in the
early mornings) it seems that this has become the norm in peoples lives:
waking up to two or three cups of coffee and then drinking even more at work.

I like coffee enough to have it regularly once a week on Saturday mornings but
the rest of my caffeine consumption is sitting down to a cup of tea at around
5 o'clock which seems to make me happy more than energizing me. But the
headaches because you did not have your coffee seem rather scary that it had
gotten to that point.

~~~
andyjdavis
You don't have to have a lot of caffeine to get a caffeine withdrawal
headache. Variation in caffeine intake is a common cause of people's
apparently random headaches.

I forget the name of it but I believe that a few decades back here in
Australia there was a brand of over the counter pain killers that had caffeine
in them. It perks you up and can reduce the severity of migraines.

You have a headache so you take one but when it wears off you get a caffeine
withdrawal headache so you have another one... Repeat until your kidneys fail
(or the government finally bans them).

~~~
jrockway
Mixing caffeine with painkillers is pretty common; caffeine improves the
effectiveness. I this this is mostly a legal workaround -- codeine would be
more effective, but they give you a caffeine + acetaminophen + asprin cocktail
that's almost as good because that's legal to sell over the counter. As an
occasional headache sufferer, I've found it to be pretty effective. Codeine is
better, though.

~~~
andyjdavis
Pretty sure you're not allowed to put caffeine in painkillers at all in
Australia. I've certainly never seen it that I can recall. It sounds like an
inherently dangerous idea to combine stimulants and depressants.

Also, you can get codeine over the counter here. You need a prescription for
the higher strength stuff but you can get strong enough codeine without one.
The pharmacist will ask you a few questions about why you want it but I've
never been refused it. Costs 7 or 8 bucks for 20 tablets of the name brand
stuff from memory.

~~~
jrockway
Acetaminophen and NSAIDs are not depressants.

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speek
This seems close to Solution Focused Brief Therapy
(<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solution_focused_brief_therapy>). It's
interesting though.

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Estragon
I'm sitting here eating my oatmeal and honey, thinking "Imagine a world
without oatmeal and honey!" Seems to be working.

------
known
_Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own
way.-- Leo Tolstoy_

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imd
Imagine there's no Youtube.

~~~
sophacles
Oh god! it burns! I'd have to _work_! =P

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DLWormwood
Obligatory TL;DR - "Count your blessings."

Really, the article conclusion seems that simple. (Though I'm not one to talk;
I'm the brooding type.)

~~~
InclinedPlane
The article's conclusion is not that simple. It compares a simple "count your
blessings" approach to a "think about not having your blessings" approach.
Their research shows the latter method works much better than the former.

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grumpyfart
Simply put: Happy Thanksgiving

