Science-Based Tools for Increasing Happiness

KEYPOINTS

• 01

  There is no single happiness molecule

  Chronically low dopamine, as in drug withdrawal or Parkinson's, tracks with low mood, and very high dopamine, as in bipolar mania, with inappropriate euphoria. Most people sit on a continuum between, and levels of dopamine and the other catecholamines probably correlate with mood and a sense of possibility. But no recipe of neuromodulators equals happiness. Huberman notes that the serotonin hypothesis of depression has been called into question, since depressed people can have normal serotonin, yet SSRIs still help many people and remain excellent treatments for conditions such as OCD.

• 02

  Money cannot buy happiness, but it can buffer stress

  The Harvard study that began in 1938 with Harvard sophomores, and shorter studies, find happiness does not scale with income past a certain level relative to cost of living. Huberman stresses the other side: income that covers living costs plus a buffer reduces anxiety, buys services such as childcare or a night nurse, and opens access to social life. He points to the common advice, where possible, of savings covering 2 to 12 months of expenses, depending on how anxious you are about losing a job.

• 03

  Work and meaning matter more than the deathbed cliché suggests

  Total hours worked do not predict happiness, yet work provides income, resources and often deep meaning. Huberman calls it naive to treat work as opposed to happiness, especially when it funds social connection, health care and recreation.

• 04

  Happiness across life is roughly U-shaped

  People report high happiness in their 20s, a dip through the responsibility-heavy 30s and 40s, and a rise in the 50s and 60s. People who choose not to have children report being at least as happy, or happier, than parents, even though most parents call their kids their greatest joy. Possible reasons such as more sleep, money or time are untested; Huberman is not advising anyone against children.

• 05

  Birthdays tend to lower happiness

  From about age 25, people report lower mood on their birthdays, apparently because the date prompts comparison with age-matched peers and unmet milestones. Huberman takes this as evidence that happiness is largely relative and that we are poor at locating ourselves on the long arc of life.

• 06

  Smoking and heavy drinking are strongly anti-correlated with happiness

  The Harvard project links chronic smoking and alcoholism with lower happiness, and partners and family of chronic smokers and drinkers also report lower happiness. Huberman adds that more than about two drinks per week is detrimental to various aspects of health.

• 07

  Trauma can lastingly reduce happiness; the lottery-paraplegic claim is wrong

  It is often said happiness returns to baseline 3 to 12 months after a trauma. Huberman pushes back, using Paul Conti's definition of trauma as something that changes brain and body function in ways that make daily life harder. Dan Gilbert's famous talk said lottery winners and new paraplegics are equally happy a year later, but in a 2019 podcast Gilbert corrected himself: the difference is smaller than expected, not zero.

• 08

  Synthetic happiness is real and takes effort

  Natural happiness comes from getting things; synthetic, or self-directed, happiness is created through what we do and how we attend, and research from Gilbert and others suggests it is at least as powerful. It relates to the hedonic set point and to dopamine dynamics in which anticipation often releases more feel-good chemistry than acquisition. Getting rewards without effort can blunt the dopamine system. Gillian Mandich's work shows synthetic happiness also depends on environment, including music, alongside effort such as happiness inventories.

• 09

  Committing to a choice makes you happier with it

  In Gilbert's experiments, people ranked paintings or chose which of their photos to keep. Those whose choice was final were more satisfied than those who could swap later. Freedom of choice itself correlates with happiness; the cost comes from keeping options open after deciding.