Reading this book fed my every British pre-conception of Americans (or more particularly of New Yorkers) as being constantly in the psychiatrist or Oprah’s chair whilst madly overachieving. I thought I’d better have a sneak preview of other reviews on Amazon to prevent any transatlantic humour barriers. How fascinating. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a book generate such a divided opinion. This-changed-my-life rave reviews alongside some really very negative comments (nothing new to say, no proper challenges overcome, completely self-indulgent and self-centred and out of touch with the worries of 99.99% of the world’s less fortunate). Ah bad reviews – so much more entertaining, so much easier to write, and so poisonously infectious. Interestingly the British version of Amazon.co.uk hardly had any negative reviews.

Suddenly I felt like springing to Gretchen’s defence – the whole point of The Happiness Project is to be happier and more grateful when things are going well! That isn’t a concept you see very often, and to me seems well worth exploring, even if you are rich – especially so, perhaps? Happy people give more, so it’s in everyone’s interest that the affluent are happy. And as for being all about Gretchen, well yes, it was her project, her flaws and her solutions. At times, she was very endearing, especially her opening line. “I always vaguely expected to outgrow my limitations.” Yes, yes , me too! She was generous with her tips and hints and started a website dedicated to the reader planning their own happiness project. Gretchen is doing her bit to encourage others to spread a little happiness (and continues to do so through her website and blog) and that can only help world peace. Saying nothing new? Perhaps it has all been said before, but her extensive quotes are worth repeating. Gretchen is re-tweeting the philosophers, taking out all the pessimistic bits, and I’m all for that. Otherwise I may never have heard of Saint Augustine of Hippo (which must be the best Saint’s name ever) who said we should ‘shield our joyous ones’. What a great concept, protecting one of our most precious resources – our world’s happiness reservoir. Gretchen admits to not being a naturally joyous one, and as a not-quite-as-joyous-as-I-used-to-be one, I agree totally that we should we should not let our joyous ones be ground down by having to eternally chivvy up the grumpy ones.

The chapter structure of monthly resolutions meant that there was no big denouement. It takes 21 days to learn a new habit, so a monthly onslaught of new resolutions might be counterproductive to most individuals. I don’t have any problem at all with her ‘being Gretchen’, but as a family doctor I would perhaps recommend a gentler path to my patients – one small change at a time can have a big positive effect.

My husband picked it up while in the bath and having read the first couple of chapters found himself bouncing up and down with enthusiasm – you must do this, this is just what you need! Well, yes, he would say that wouldn’t he? The first couple of chapters were all about being exceptionally nice to your spouse and taking on all the annoying household tasks gladly with no expectation of reward! But I have to agree, happiness is infectious. It really is. I’m still an optimist, but I often feel rather crushed by the minutiae of life, and I have become a rather grumpy one. Gretchen, you have inspired me to give happiness the priority it deserves. I shall reclaim my joie de vivre. And for that I shall give you four shiny gold stars.

Next time, being a scientific sort, I’m going to read the Positive Psychology Bible – Authentic Happiness by Martin Seligman. But meanwhile, keep smiling, whether through gritted teeth or not, and if you have any books you’d recommend, please let me know…
Emily Joy is a family doctor living in the Highlands of Scotland and the author of Green Oranges on Lion Mountain ISBN 903070-46-5 (an unlikely happy book of her experiences as a volunteer doctor in Sierra Leone) and The Accidental Optimist’s Guide to Life ISBN 903070-43-0 (which is a bit like Gretchen’s but with a lot more failures!)

As in many industrialized countries, the secondary school system in China is sharply focussed on university entrance, and in this highly populated and rapidly modernizing country, the competition for places at top universities is fierce.  As a result the pressure on students is enormous, and rates of depression are soaring.  Dr Xie has written a very heartfelt and extensive analysis on this problem.

We hope that educational authorities in China and around the world can follow the pioneering lead of Haidian district and make the Pursuit of Happiness a focus of attention and a guiding principle.

During our visit we discovered that Haidian District School No 19, which hosted the conference, has an entire psychology department with extensive facilities focused on Positive Psychology.

As Dr. Xie mentioned, “this is only the beginning.” The Science of happiness is a new field. We need to analyze the implications of the hundreds of studies that are coming out in this area, and update psychology curricula. This requires significant manpower. Pharmaceutical companies are investing billions of dollars in creating and marketing new drugs for depression. If we could invest a fraction of that amount for depression prevention, our task would be half done.

NOTE: We are soon going to post up the content of the presentations at the Beijing conference, including lesson plans for ethics and psychology curricula, in English and Chinese, on the “teaching materials” section of the website.

Dr. Schadenfreude: Yes, as a matter of fact I have many. To begin with, why are you people wasting time trying to spread information about happiness? People are born with a set amount of happiness due to their genetic makeup, and you can’t change that.

Blissblogs: Great question. As you know, the information we have on sets of twins  separated from birth shows that, no matter how different their experiences and backgrounds, their mental states remain similar. But recent scientific studies show that people are able to improve their mood by changing the way they think or act. So why the similarity between twins? Until recently, we didn’t know much about how to prevent depression or become happier. Suppose that one of the twins I mentioned intentionally used the new science to become happier? It is difficult to put a figure on it, but our genetic background impacts about 50% of our psychological well being and our actions seem to affect between 30-50%.

Dr. Schadenfreude: How can you claim that we know more about happiness than we used to? People have struggled to become happier for thousands of years, and yet statistics show your average Joe is getting more depressed!

Blissblogs: Luckily enough, over the last twenty years or so, psychologists such as Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and  Martin Seligman have carried out studies aimed at discovering the causes of happiness. These kinds of studies show that we can do concrete things to improve our mood and climb out of the gloom.

Dr Schadenfreude: Isn’t the pursuit of happiness a selfish pursuit? Shouldn’t we think more about how to improve the lives of the people around us?

Blissblogs: What the science of happiness seems to show, and ancient philosophy too, is that our happiness is very closely linked to the happiness of our fellow humans. We can become temporarily happier by going shopping and eating chocolate etc. But one of the most powerful ways of becoming happier in a deeper way is to care about the people around us.  Small acts of generosity and kindness can have a huge effect. Recent studies have shown that happiness is quite infectious. The more happy we are, the happier the people around us, as well as the people who know those people!

Blissblogs: I think it’s my turn to ask a question. As people know you are highly influential around the world. Thanks to your philosophy, media and popular gossip columns love to talk about natural disasters and human tragedies, and especially the seedy lives of celebrities. Why do you encourage people to talk about bad news?

Dr. Schadenfreude: It makes people feel good! They realise that many of their fellow humans are having a harder time than they are. And they like to see the high and mighty turn into complete wrecks. Gossiping about the failures of colleagues and relatives works pretty well too. The more we put people down, the better we feel!

Blissblogs: I guess that could work. For about five minutes.

Dr. Schadenfreude: Yes, that’s why we have to keep publishing the bad news!

Blissblogs: (Laughs). Thank you so much for coming today, in spite of your busy job.

Dr. Schadenfreude: Thank you! The temporary pleasure was mine!