Why You’re Unhappy:
Biology vs Politics
$3 on Kindle. All formats available.
DOWNLOAD FREE SAMPLE: pdf audio
PODCASTS discussing the book
CARTOONS from the print book
Please review the book on Amazon.
Unhappiness is an essential brain function.
It re-sets your happy chemicals so you can make good choices. Why don’t they tell you this? Why do they make it a disorder? It’s politics. Not the electoral kind, but the politics of saying what’s popular to win support.
Doctors and therapists win support by promising happiness. Academics and the media win support by saying that happiness is “normal” and you’ve been deprived. No one would listen if they said that unhappiness is normal and happiness takes work. So people end up feeling deprived and disordered.
This problem is not new. Three centuries ago, Rousseau declared that nature is happy and “our society” causes unhappiness. We are taught that animals are happy, children are happy, hunter-gatherers are happy, and you would be happy if “our society” hadn’t messed up.
The popular view is profoundly disempowering.
It makes you a feel like a victim of external forces instead of building internal skills.
And it’s not even true. This book shows that animals, children and hunter-gatherers are unhappy a lot. It shows why medicine, academia, therapy, and the media ignore the fact that our happy chemicals are not designed to be on all the time. When you know why our brain produces unhappiness, you can stop feeling broken and expand the happy moments that our brain is capable of.
It’s hard to question the prevaling view of happiness because you’re told that it’s THE Science. You risk being labelled an anti-science nut if you don’t believe.
But life is short. Every minute you ignore your power over your brain is a minute less you have to be happy. You can blaze new trails to your happy chemicals now instead of waiting for society to make you happy.
You can spark more dopamine, serotonin, and oxytocin when you know the biology that politics obscures.
But it takes work because it’s not natural. Humans have struggle to build this skill since the beginning of time. Our brain evolved to promote survival, not to make you happy. It releases happy chemicals to motivate action that meets survival needs. It releases bad-feeling chemicals to alert you to threats. It’s so good at avoiding threats that you can end up feeling bad in a good life.
Our chemicals are controlled by neural pathways built from past experience. You can build new pathways, but it takes work. You don’t do the work when you’re taught that happiness is “normal” and unhappiness is a disease cured by “treatment.” You don’t find your power over your chemicals when you’re taught to blame society for your unhappiness and expect society to fix it.
It’s not easy to feel good with this brain we’ve inherited. You’d rather hear that happiness is “right” and someone else can give it to you. But here are facts you need to build happy skills now. These facts are just basic biology, but they’re not mentioned in the mental health world because they’re not politically convenient.
ISBN-13 : 978-1941959237 ASIN : B0CGTNQHGZ
Read it in Spanish, Turkish, Russian, Persian
For other translation rights, use contact form above.
—
Podcasts/Media on the book
Addiction-recovery perspective with TribeSober’s Janet Gourand
Why You’re Not Happy and What to Do About It with Abel James
Grand Slam Journey with Klara Jagosova
Biohacking with Melanie Avalon
Journal Article: Unhappiness Is Not a Disease
Why You’re Unhappy
Biology vs Politics
$3 on Kindle. All formats available.
DOWNLOAD FREE SAMPLE: pdf audio
PODCASTS discussing the book
CARTOONS from the print book
Please review the book on Amazon
Unhappiness is an essential brain function.
It re-sets your happy chemicals so you can make good choices. Why don’t they tell you this? Why do they make it a disorder? It’s politics. Not the electoral kind, but the politics of saying what’s popular to win support.
Doctors and therapists win support by promising happiness. Academics and the media win support by saying that happiness is “normal” and you’ve been deprived. No one would listen if they said that unhappiness is normal and happiness takes work. So people end up feeling deprived and disordered.
This problem is not new. Three centuries ago, Rousseau declared that nature is happy and “our society” causes unhappiness. We are taught that animals are happy, children are happy, hunter-gatherers are happy, and you would be happy if “our society” hadn’t messed up.
The popular view is profoundly disempowering.
It makes you a feel like a victim of external forces instead of building internal skills.
And it’s not even true. This book shows that animals, children and hunter-gatherers are unhappy a lot. It shows why medicine, academia, therapy, and the media ignore the fact that our happy chemicals are not designed to be on all the time. When you know why our brain produces unhappiness, you can stop feeling broken and expand the happy moments that our brain is capable of.
It’s hard to question the prevaling view of happiness because you’re told that it’s THE Science. You risk being labelled an anti-science nut if you don’t believe.
But life is short. Every minute you ignore your power over your brain is a minute less you have to be happy. You can blaze new trails to your happy chemicals now instead of waiting for society to make you happy.
You can spark more dopamine, serotonin, and oxytocin when you know the biology that politics obscures.
But it takes work because it’s not natural. Humans have struggle to build this skill since the beginning of time. Our brain evolved to promote survival, not to make you happy. It releases happy chemicals to motivate action that meets survival needs. It releases bad-feeling chemicals to alert you to threats. It’s so good at avoiding threats that you can end up feeling bad in a good life.
Our chemicals are controlled by neural pathways built from past experience. You can build new pathways, but it takes work. You don’t do the work when you’re taught that happiness is “normal” and unhappiness is a disease cured by “treatment.” You don’t find your power over your chemicals when you’re taught to blame society for your unhappiness and expect society to fix it.
It’s not easy to feel good with this brain we’ve inherited. You’d rather hear that happiness is “right” and someone else can give it to you. But here are facts you need to build happy skills now. These facts are just basic biology, but they’re not mentioned in the mental health world because they’re not politically convenient.
ISBN-13 : 978-1941959237 ASIN : B0CGTNQHGZ
Read it in Spanish, Turkish, Russian, Persian
For other translation rights, use contact form above.
—
Podcasts/Media on the book
Addiction-recovery perspective with TribeSober’s Janet Gourand
Why You’re Not Happy and What to Do About It with Abel James
Grand Slam Journey with Klara Jagosova
Biohacking with Melanie Avalon
Journal Article: Unhappiness Is Not a Disease
Top reviews
This book has changed my whole view of life. Once you see it, you can’t un-see it.
It helps me manage the tug-of-war between fitting in and expressing my true self. But it takes courage to question the medical and psychological view of happiness.
I love this book because it debunks the myth of happiness being effortless and gives you a realistic way to manage your feelings.
Top reviews
This book has changed my whole view of life. Once you see it, you can’t un-see it.
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