Psychology

      of

      Happiness

      The journey is now available to everyone

      Juan Moisés de la Serna

      Translator: Ana María Carrizosa De Narvaez

      Tektime editorial

      2019

      “Psychology of Happiness: The journey is now available to everyone”

      Written by Juan Moisés de la Serna

      Translator: Ana María Carrizosa De Narvaez

      1rst Edition: October 2019

      © Juan Moisés de la Serna, 2019

      © Tektime editions, 2019

      All rights reserved

      Distributed by Tektime

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      Foreword

      To talk about happiness means talking about an illusion, a goal in life, something very desirable but at the same time ephemeral. At least if we are referring to the idealized “happiness” sold through commercials, television or radio. But happiness is much more than achieving a desired goal in particular; it is a daily effort to maintain that state, otherwise, what would be the purpose of achieving happiness if we have to lose it afterwards?

      In this book you will find the latest investigations related to happiness and the answers to what it is and how to achieve it. You will also find what happens if you don’t achieve happiness and what happens when the inconveniences and barriers to achieving happiness appear.

      It will all be explained in a clear and simple way in order to offer you an enriching experience that will be able to help you in your personal search for achieving happiness; but a happiness that will be real, possible and attainable, and above all, lasting.

      Surely many times

      very happy you have been

      but have you ever thought

      why did it happen?

      And why day after day

      we are never happy?

      Why is it difficult for us to smile

      or make our brother happy?

      Searching for an answer

      roads I have traveled

      I have asked many

      no one has defined it.

      —Happiness— they answer—,

      I don’t know where it will come from

      but I know I am happy

      —someone will say so.

      —Yes, I already know that

      —to that one I have replied—

      but tell me why.

      —I don’t know —he has spoken.

      Happiness sometimes

      it’s hard to find

      because we are demanding

      and we don’t want to stop.

      It is a quiet moment

      that can be breathed

      playing with a child

      or looking at the wide sea.

      It is only those moments

      that you may remember

      when you become overwhelmed

      and cannot rest.

      Happiness is that

      what cannot be touched

      a smile, a kiss

      an “I love you, truly!”

      It is always thinking about the other

      selfishness forget

      make an effort to smile

      and think of others.

      Dedicated to my parents

      Index

       CHAPTER 1. THE EMOTION OF HAPPINESS

       CHAPTER 2. DISCOVERING HAPPINESS

       CHAPTER 3. NEURONAL BASIS OF HAPPINESS

       CHAPTER 4. SEARCHING FOR HAPPINESS

       CHAPTER 5. THE BENEFITS OF HAPPINESS

       CHAPTER 6. WHEN HAPPINESS DOES NOT ARRIVE

       CONCLUSIONS

CHAPTER 1. THE EMOTION OF HAPPINESS

      The first thing we need to know about happiness is that it is an emotion. Emotions are part of life, whether we are aware of it or not. They are present in each and every action and decision taken, hence the importance of studying them.

      Among emotion theorists there are two perspectives: those who consider emotion as a univocal and inseparable concept that includes both positive and negative affect in a continuum; and those who consider it to be a multidimensional concept, composed of cognitive, behavioral and physiological elements.

      Emotion can be considered as a particular state experienced by a subject, which allows him to perceive and respond to the environment (as a kind of arousal).

      Simplifying, one could consider three possible states: the positive (joy or happiness), the neutral (indifference), and the negative (sadness, displeasure or unhappiness). Therefore, emotion would be a way of perceiving and responding to the environment.

      When a state becomes chronic, it is considered to be a “trait” of personality, that is, the individual turns it into their usual way of responding to internal or external stimulation.

      When chronic emotional states “get out of adjustment”, abnormal deviations of emotional processing appear, ranging from the accentuation of anxious or phobic traits, to pathologies such as generalized anxiety disorder or major depression disorder.

      Another approach to emotion is to consider it as an adaptive procedure of cognitive, physiological and behavioral reaction to environmental or internal stimulation, which can be positive or negative. For those reasons, one can state that emotion has an impact in thoughts, as well as in the organism and in behavior.

      The processing of emotion can be divided in two: emotional perception and emotional experience. The first one involves a low-level cognitive processing, where the emotional stimulus is perceived and evaluated;