If You're Happy and You Know It ...

Take one tablet daily... -- Picture courtesy of Wikipedia

by blogSpotter
I've always found it interesting to gauge and compare the levels of happiness I see in other adults. Happiness is an abstract idea; I'm sure that some people can project joy when they hide an inner sadness. Still others may grimace and complain but actually have inner contentment. On the whole, I can tell these cases and most people are not such good actors. For the sake of simplicity, I'll describe three states of happiness:

1) Clinical Depression -- You feel sad and hopeless. Nothing brings you joy and you have nothing to look forward to. Appetites are diminished and energy is low. People who are clinically depressed may have trouble with the simplest tasks -- grooming, preparing breakfast, driving a car. The condition is so extreme that the clinically depressed will seek out medical help if they don't lapse into drug or alcohol abuse.

2) "Normal" -- Most people are on this even keel. You have a realistic understanding of life's problems and down moments, but it is countered with optimism, energy and self motivation. The "normal" person will not be giddy or ecstatic most of the time, but will allow himself a daily chuckle and will smile periodically. This person is under no delusions about self-importance or the ease life's immediate pressures, but has a basic positivity that carries him forward.

3) "Manic" -- This person is bouncy, jovial and always smiling or cracking jokes. They appear never to be down or sad. They may be truly manic and starting new projects, spending big sums of money or taking center stage. There may be a heavy dose of ego in such people; when they aren't clinically manic they frequently are leaders of society. Their glass is half full and soon to be overflowing. One manager at my company must fall into this category. I never see him that he isn't grinning from ear to ear. "Hi! How ARE ya??" He's glowing and happy just getting on the elevator at 7:55AM.

About 11% of women and 5% of men fall into category 1 (clinical depression). They might start out seeking common ways to chase the blues away : religion, music, cognitive therapy, etc. For "normal" people experiencing a temporary low, these forms of therapy might fill the bill. But the clinically depressed person needs in-patient therapy and physical evaluation -- there could be a chemical basis for long-lasting and often irrational feelings of despair. Antidepressant medications can come to the rescue for such people.

Antidepressants you say? Yes; this category of medication is in its relative infancy. Until the 1950's Saint John's Wort and opium were the only known antidepressants. One was largely ineffective and the other was addictive. Then in 1952 Jean-Francois Buisson in France discovered that isoniazid, a tuberculosis medicine had some antidepressant effect. Shortly thereafter, scientists researching anti-shock drugs discovered that tricyclic compounds could also alleviate depression. Imipramine became the first commercial product from this study. Unfortunately, this first generation of antidepressants had serious side effects -- dry mouth, blurry vision and fatigue among other things. There was a three-decade "Dark Age" where these were the only types of medications available for clinical depression. In the late 1980's, Prozac was introduced by the Eli Lilly Company. This new class of drugs was termed SSRI (Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor); it worked in ways far more subtle and with way fewer side effects. SSRI's have been so popular that the "normies" who aren't even clinically depressed have stocked them in case of blue moods. Prozac was blamed early on for some patient suicides but the connection was never proved -- clinically depressed people are more likely to commit suicide. Zoloft, Wellbutrin and some other variations have since joined the Prozac family.

Where does that leave us now? In a better place by and large. Must say, when I do see the naturally manic person, I want to deck him. God has given him the ultimate SSRI -- he can strut thru life confidently, with no problems to speak of. I can tell you how it is from here in the light gray zone. If I won the lottery, I'd still play the blues pretty frequently. There is no rhyme, reason or logic to it -- some of us were just destined to hear the blue notes and that's all there is to it. Can I groom myself, prepare breakfast or laugh at a joke? Absolutely. Am I overflowing with ebullient cheer at 8AM on a work day? Absolutely not. Does that make me precisely "happy" or "unhappy"? Well those adjectives are gross simplifications for one's basic outlook. We're frequently some of one and a shake of the other, simultaneously. I'll say that I have a sense of happiness that's tempered by a sober reality. Considering some of the alternatives, I'll go with that.

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