http://repub.eur.nl/res/aut/26730/ List of Publications en http://repub.eur.nl/static-eur/img/logo.png http://repub.eur.nl http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/31086/ 2011-07-01T00:00:00Z Three questions are addressed: (1) How (un)happy are people with and without mental disorders? (2) What are the clinical characteristics associated with happiness among people with a mental disorder? (3) Does happiness predict recovery from mental disorders? A representative sample (N = 7076) of the Dutch population was interviewed at baseline and 1 and 3 years later. Mental disorders were assessed using the Composite International Diagnostic Interview. Happiness was measured using a single question on how often respondents had felt happy during the past 4 weeks. Of the respondents with a mental disorder 68.4% reported they had felt often happy, compared to 89.1% without a disorder. The unhappiness of people with mental disorders is associated with having a mood disorder and impaired emotional and social role functioning. Happiness enhances the changes of recovery from a mental disorder at follow-up. The implications are discussed. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/22825/ 2011-05-10T00:00:00Z This thesis is inspired by the utilitarian ideology that seeks the greatest happiness for the greatest numbers and tries to add to this cause considering three questions: 1) What is the quality of popular happiness advice? 2) Is unhappiness concentrated in people with mental disorders? 3) Does the pursuit of happiness cover all ground? Happiness advice: What do philosophical and psychological self-help books recommend for leading a happy life and how well does this fit with research findings on conditions for happiness? An analysis of 57 psychological best-selling self-help books in the Netherlands shows that most deal with topics that are well correlated with happiness. This means that there is ground to expect positive outcomes, but some works offer recommendations that do not fit research results and are therefore likely to be counterproductive. Empirical studies show that self-help materials can relieve specific psychological problems, but there are no data confirming the effectiveness of popular advice for a happier life in general. Happiness of people with mental disorder: How much priority deserves mental health care in the pursuit of greater happiness? Analysis of a large scale panel study in the Netherlands shows that most of the unhappiest people have a mental disorder, and from an utilitarian viewpoint, raising the happiness of these people deserves priority. But not all people with mental disorders are unhappy. Most people with mental disorders feel happy at least often, in particular people diagnosed as having a substance abuse disorder or an anxiety disorder. This does not seem not to be due to distorted appraisal of happiness. Wisdom and negative affect: Several critics of utilitarianism deem ‘wisdom’ higher than happiness. Is there a conflict between these values as the stereotype of ‘Happy Hans’ suggests? Analysis of large scale survey shows that wisdom and happiness are positively correlated. Yet the overlap between the two is so modest that the entities are largely independent. Some adherents of utilitarianism focus on eliminating negative experiences all together. Transhumanists ponder on redesigning the human organism that will give rise to ‘more varied experience, lifelong happiness and exhilarating peak experiences everyday’. Likewise, positive psychologists focus on maximizing positive experiences through learning. It is argued that negative emotions serve a critical function in our lives, and will enable us to stay focused on the parts of reality that are necessary for optimal functioning. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/21579/ 2010-11-01T00:00:00Z Quality of life is often measured using questions about happiness. This method presumes that respondents are able to judge their life. Research suggest that this is typically the case, but this is not to say that everybody can. In that context one may doubt whether people with a mental disorder can judge their life adequately. Happiness can be rejected as a indicator for quality of life for people with mental disorders, because of affective and cognitive distortions. We therefore checked the validity of happiness and satisfaction measures in the context of mental disorders. Psychiatric diagnoses were determined at baseline and at 12 and 36 months follow-up in a representative sample (N = 7,076) of the Dutch population, using a full Composite International Diagnostic Interview. Respondents indicated how often they had felt happy during the past month and how satisfied they were with their lives in general. The measurements have a satisfactory concurrent, ecological and predictive validity for people with mental disorders. Though the level of happiness is lower among the people with mental disorders, conditions for happiness and contentment appear to be similar. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/30825/ 2009-07-28T00:00:00Z Plato called poetry a ‘false Siren’, the ‘ally of all that is low and weak in the soul against that which is high and strong.’ (Bywater 1920) The problem was that onlookers in the theatre would become emotionally involved in the psychic conflicts and suffering that was depicted, whereas it would have been better to view the human condition with more philosophical detachment. Plato thought that poetry nourished the childish part of the soul (Chriswold 2008). But Plato was also prepared to give the advocates of poetry an opportunity to show that poetry can be useful: ‘‘We will give her champions (advocates of poetry), not poets themselves but poet-lovers, an opportunity to make her defense in plain prose and show that she (poetry) is not only sweet—as we well know—but also helpful to society and the life of man.’’ ... http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/30827/ 2000-09-01T00:00:00Z Technological progress seems to open ways for redesigning the human organism. This means that the affective system that is built into the brain by evolution can be redesigned with intent. One of the consequences will be that the word progress will get a new meaning. Progress won't be confined to enhancing the conditions of living, but it will change the way we react to the world. These possibilities are explored in a new kind of biological utopism called 'transhumanism'. This school foresees that a restructured human brain will give rise to 'more varied experience, lifelong happiness and exhilarating peak experiences everyday'. This essay considers the reality value of that expectation in the light of the current psychology of affects, in particular of presumed functions of hedonic experience. It is concluded that transhumanism overlooks that happiness will lose its meaning if it is treated as an isolated feeling. The affective system in our brain needs strong ties with the on-going interaction of the individual with its environment. Making people happier without enhancing the grip on their life will be contra-productive.