Happiness and pleasure, are easily confused, as they both feel good.
It’s important to note that happiness and pleasure are not the same thing.
Fortunately, Dr. Lustig shared seven differences between the two.
1. Pleasure is short-lived; happiness is long-lived.
2. Pleasure is visceral; happiness is ethereal.
3. Pleasure is taking; happiness is giving.
4. Pleasure can be achieved with substances; happiness cannot be achieved with substances.
5. Pleasure is experienced alone; happiness is experienced in social groups.
6. The extremes of pleasure all lead to addiction, whether they be substances or behaviours. Yet there’s no such thing as being addicted to too much happiness.
7. Finally, and most importantly, pleasure is tied to dopamine (the pleasure biochemical/neurotransmitter), and happiness is tied to serotonin (the happiness biochemical/neurotransmitter).
Dr. Lustig explains WHY understanding these differences is of vital importance.
One chief reason is: excess dopamine can lead to addiction, which erodes both present and future happiness.
In simple neuroscience terms, dopamine downregulates serotonin resulting in “the more pleasure we seek, the more unhappy we get.”
- This reply was modified 10 months, 2 weeks ago by kin.