Happiness is a chemical imbalance? Sounds crazy, huh? Well, it is; and it isn't. You see, the medical community has been telling us for years that depression is caused by a chemical imbalance; yet, for all their chemicals, they haven't been able to balance the scales. The plain and simple truth is that, if depression did start with chemistry, then chemistry would correct it in every case; and it doesn't. In fact, placebos are as effective as any anti-depression drug on the market; which simply means that the medical community has NO CLUE about the true nature of depression - but they're willing to experiment with drugs that are only lethal some of the time. So, what's the difference between happiness and depression?
You'd think that, if they found a cure for depression, it would be a recipe for happiness, as well. In fact, anti-depressants are often called, "Happy Pills." But that's not happiness; people on anti-depressants look, act, sound, and feel like people on anti-depressants - not like happy people. A person taking medicine for depression doesn't look like anything other than a depressed person on drugs. We need to start thinking about depression with a little more basic logic and common sense - which, as it turns out, is not so common. Remember, placebos work extremely well with depression; and it is the mind that makes a placebo work. The mind can cure depression; because the mind causes it.
Let's start with basics. You've seen depressed people (maybe in the mirror!); and, you've seen elated people. But you've also seen people who seem very calm and centered - taking everything in with as little judgment as possible - like a Buddhist monk, or a peaceful baby, for example. There is a place that is neither "happy," nor "sad;" this is a state of peace and contentment - which, though not excited elation, it isn't sadness, either. A person with this degree of emotional self-management - able to maintain an emotional calm, centered state - sits comfortably on the line between elation and depression. This person's head and heart are above that line; while their feet remain firmly grounded in reality. These people know there are troubles in the world; but they choose other thoughts for themselves and don't worry about things they cannot positively influence. This is completely a matter of emotional self-management through the use of the mind.
Drugs don't work the same for everyone; but everyone has equal access to the mind. The uncomfortable feelings one gets when depressed are indeed the result of chemicals in the body - chemicals released in response to certain kinds of thoughts. Worry thoughts, for instance, may make you feel funny in your abdomen, while fear thoughts may make your body shake, your knees weak, and your bladder release. Different kinds of thoughts produce different electrical and chemical signals in your brain, nervous system, endocrine system, and body; happy thoughts release chemicals that are generally beneficial to you and make you feel good, while negative thoughts produce feelings and functions we associate with depression. Too many negative thoughts amount to too many stress hormones, or an Imbalance of what Candace Pert calls, "The Molecules of Emotion."
If being below the line of balance is considered an "imbalance," then being above that same standard is an "imbalance," too - just in the other direction. We don't consider happiness to be an "imbalance" simply because it seems to be a desirable condition; but happiness is a much more uncommon condition these days than unhappiness. What can you do to cause an imbalance on the "up-hill" side of stability? Well, you can start by thinking more positive, happy thoughts than you do negative thoughts. If you are depressed, this will take some conscious effort because you have obviously developed a chronic habit of thinking negatively and you probably don't have a tremendous archive of happy memories, or points of reference, from which to draw and create new emotional states.
You can tell yourself you are the victim of chemistry; but that chemistry comes from somewhere - and it has a reason for being. When medicine came up with the idea of "chemical imbalances," they were simply observing "what is," and stating the obvious; but they didn't fully understand the link between your psyche and body chemistry. Now they do. But, there is now a huge market based on the "old way" of thinking; the pharmaceutical companies aren't going to simply fold-up a "lemonade stand" that makes them millions of dollars per day. You are going to have to think about this one yourself.
If you want to find freedom from chemical dependency, and unhappiness, you need to think happy thoughts until you "tip the scales" in your favor by using your thoughts to create more of the good chemistry than the bad. Happiness is indeed a chemical imbalance; and, it is easier to create a state of "imbalance" than you might think - if you simply quit thinking, saying, and doing the things you always have. That might not sound so easy; but, if you are unhappy, simply start keeping a journal of your daily thoughts and actions, and you will soon have a list of exactly what not to do.
Pete Koerner, author of The Belief Formula
http://www.ExploreExpandEvolve.com
*For a Free Report on Making The Belief Formula Work for You, visit: http://www.TheBeliefFormula.com
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