Over two hundred years ago, President Abraham Lincoln famously said, "Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be." Is that even possible today in the midst of a global pandemic?

Christian psychiatrist Daniel Amen, M.D. believes each of us can raise the degree of happiness we experience even in the midst of challenging circumstances like the ones we are facing today.

The COVID-19 pandemic sent mental health crises through the roof. Over the last two years, adult depression tripled while depression and anxiety disorders among children more than doubled.

However, he says it doesn't have to be that way. "With the right strategies you can learn to be happier in a short period of time," he said.

After studying more than 200,000 brain scans, Dr. Amen discovered neuroscience techniques that can lead to increased happiness. He then tested them on his patients and found an average 32 percent improvement after one month.

"I was pretty excited about it," he said. "What most people don't know is happiness is a moral obligation. God put us on the earth to be happier. If you ask someone who was raised by an unhappy parent or married to an unhappy spouse whether or not happiness was a moral obligation I can assure you they would say, 'yes.'"

What's Your Brain Type?

In his book, You, Happier: The 7 Neuroscience Secrets of Feeling Good Based On Your Brain Type, Dr. Amen prescribes different happiness strategies based on a person's personality type. He says there are 16 different types, which are combinations of five main ones.

"There are balanced people, almost anything will make them happy, spontaneous people who need novelty, persistent people who need routine and hate surprises. There are sensitive people, they got hurt the worst in the pandemic because they need other people and they need connection. And then there are cautious people who need to feel safe," he said.

Source