Happy Heart, Healthy Heart
Good mood: it does a body good

Tim Johnson

Think you know what makes you happy in life? Think again, says Harvard University psychologist Dr. Daniel Gilbert.

When we weigh our options, he says, our brains automatically try to select the course of action that will bring us maximum satisfaction, but they are not very adept at this. “We’re pretty good at knowing whether things are generally good or bad—in the sense that a trip to Paris is better than gallbladder surgery,” he says. But we fail to make accurate choices about how something will make us feel. We’re also poor at predicting just how good or bad something will be—and for how long. “That means we can’t make very good decisions about what futures we should avoid and what futures we should pursue.”

And while today the pursuit of happiness is an enshrined existential goal, there’s much more at stake here than satisfaction, explains Dr. Paul Dorian, a cardiologist with St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto. Low mood, a scientifically observable state of being mildly depressed (down in the dumps), is linked to cardiac problems: those affected are much more likely to develop heart disease.

“Depression of the mind causes activation of the body through the sympathetic nervous system, so the internal milieu becomes agitated,” says Dorian. “And the cardio-vascular consequences are increases in blood pressure and heart rate as well as stickier blood.” Furthermore, heart attack survivors who remain in low spirits run a higher risk of dying, especially in the first year. “These patients tend to underuse available medical resources. They don’t see their doctor. They don’t take their pills. They don’t go to cardiac rehab. They keep smoking,” Dorian explains.

A persistent state of unhappiness can also be bad for general health. Unhappy people are more likely to drink to excess and smoke, and to be both socially isolated and less likely to eat well or exercise. “There are many wheels within wheels, many vicious circles,” observes Dorian. So what are the practical routes to a better mood and a healthier life? First, says Gilbert, it is the frequency, not the intensity, of positive events that is important. So 10 smaller pleasures are better than one amazing event. “Arrange your day to contain lots of good things. They don’t have to be great, they just have to be good.” For Gilbert, the simple satisfaction of being able to walk to and from work is a major source of happiness.

It’s also better to invest money in experiences rather than physical goods. Though some may consider a vacation a luxury, the evidence suggests that people who jet off to exotic locales may be happier in the end than those who use the money to buy new kitchen appliances or a car. “Objects hang around long enough to disappoint us, experiences don’t,” Gilbert says. When in doubt, copy others. “If you look at what things make other people happy, you can learn a lot about your own future experience.”