My unprescription for happiness

by Scotland Willis

I was speaking with a good friend this morning who is visiting with me from out of town; she has
been prescribed lots of drugs- eight to my knowledge. These drugs ranged from antidepressants (prescribed as a method to help them sleep) to pain pills.

Thoroughly concerned about the use of prescription medicine as a solution with no end; I shifted into my life coach mode and asked her to do me a favor. I simply requested that she take a moment to go up stairs and write a list of ten things that make her happy.

What we should all know

While she was doing this I decided to do some research about the various drugs- most of it was not positive. The risks associated with taking the prescribed drugs ranged from suicide to further depression- be more depressed... so I can sleep? That didn't wash with me, so I furthered my research, all the time knowing and informing her that I am no doctor and am not offering medical advice. I went a step further.

With only novice experience in heal risk affects, I started to research the NIH (National Institute of Health) and the IRIS (Integrated Risk Information System) to increase my understanding of what I was looking at- more bad news. Both offer valuable insights to toxicity and responses to various toxicants.

As it turns out, and is sometimes the case, I discovered that what had been prescribed was the very same thing I was requesting of my friend; find happiness- but the drugs were limited in understanding human nature.

The drugs force the release of additional serotonin ( a contributor to a sense of well being sometimes called the happiness hormone (though it is not actually a hormone). Excesses of serotonin like any toxic affect, can have a negative outcome. To no surprise she complained about discomfort in her gut (where 80% of serotonin is produced). An excess dose of serotonin could potentially result in this response.

Putting it all together

After about an hour, she came to me with her list. Next, I went through the list of ten things she wrote down for me, that make her happy or that she likes to do. I read them with great care. Then I went through each one and asked her, "when was the last time you went to the museum?" followed by; "when was the last time you went to a movie"... followed by; "when was the last time you..." until we went through the entire list.

As it turned out she had not participated in any of the things she enjoyed in less than the last six months!

I absolutely could not believe this; I could not believe what I was hearing. Now I have plenty of stress in my life; but I do not allow a day to go by without doing at least one thing, that makes me happy. If ever I have, I know that I would not feel good about myself, vis a vis, I would not be happy i.e., I would not have the natural dose of serotonin already in my body, that I needed.

So I proceeded to give my nonprescription, "My friend, I said, "I want you to go out and do at least two of the things that make you happy today. Take your journal and write about how they make you feel and pay attention to what is occurring for you as you make your observations."

A real difference

Immediately, as I was looking at her beautiful self, it was as if a huge burden had been lifted from her. A smile came across her face that was glowing in a way I had not seen since she arrived. To me that indicated that the dopamine ( a biological reaction that occurs when you are craving something) was being released at the mere idea of taking time to do some of the things that make her happy. My belief is that she will get the sense of well being from the interaction between what she stated makes her happy and making a conscious decision to partake in such activity.

And that is it friends, don't allow life to pass you by because you forgot to do something that makes you feel good (the serotonin) every day.

You might start by going off somewhere right now and making that list of the ten things that make you happy. If the natural dopamine in your is being released, you are probably experiencing a smile or your salivary glands acting up at the idea that you are going to reward yourself by treating your happiness hormones to doing something nice for someone else, or nice to yourself.

Don't worry be happy, because there are some things that you just cannot change- accept that and find a alternate happy path. For the other things, that you can change, as long as they don't make someone else unhappy, go and do them. Join a new group, pick up an instrument, go for a walk, a bike ride, show someone you care, get an ice cream cone, breathe fresh air, write in your journal, garden, etc. Do a physical or mental activity that nourishes you and can make you begin to feel whole again.

We forget things all the time as humans, just don't forget to be happy