What Is The Source Of Your Happiness?
I read an article in the Journal of Medical Ethics entitled, "A proposal to classify happiness as a psychiatric disorder." The article was written by Richard P Bentall of Liverpool University in 1992. The author's hypothesis was that happiness is an abnormality, and should be classified as a disease similar to Schizophrenia. Now the author was not saying that happiness is as damaging to the individual as a major psychological disorder. He proposed that happiness be classified as a "major affective disorder, pleasant type." In other words, it may be a disorder, but it is not recognized as displaying any negatively valued symptoms. The author posited this hypothesis: "... Happiness is statistically abnormal, consists of a discrete cluster of symptoms, is associated with a range of cognitive abnormalities, and probably reflects the abnormal functioning of the central nervous system... " What does all this mean? We probably know what "statistica
