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Well, I think it is safe to assume that Long Term Happiness changes the brain "permanently" in the same manner. How about this: the brain is ever changing. Ou

Well, I think it is safe to assume that Long Term Happiness changes the brain "permanently" in the same manner. How about this: the brain is ever changing. Our previous states of consciousness manifest in our brain, which can be observed when we look at it.

cgriswald 9y ago
> Well, I think it is safe to assume that Long Term Happiness changes the brain "permanently" in the same manner. That would be a poor assumption. The "change" that was observed by the researchers was an increase in the amount of a protein which is an indicator for brain inflammation. Per the article, you see the same type of inflammation with diseases like Alzheimers. The takeaway is that depression is a progressive illness and current treatment doesn't address this progression.
- devmunchies 9y ago
  > current treatment doesn't address this progression I myself would rather see a prevention than a treatment. But there is no money in preventative care.
  - Broken_Hippo 9y ago
    "But there is no money in preventative care" Yes, there is. You just aren't looking in the right places. Employers. Employees. Insurance companies and those that pay for insurance. Governments that provide health care to some or all of its citizens. Taxpayers that fund those programs.
    - Groxx 9y ago
      That's great to hear! Can I bill you for the difference between what I pay for preventative care after insurance, vs what this implies the cost should be?
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
- lactau 9y ago
  There is nothing about inflammation or Alzheimers in the title or anything else that would provide any kind of information. "Permanently changes the brain" is a meaningless buzzword.
  - jakelazaroff 9y ago
    Barely even 100 words in: > The research shows that people with longer periods of untreated depression, lasting more than a decade, had significantly more brain inflammation compared to those who had less than 10 years of untreated depression.
    - aje403 9y ago
      I don't intend to shitpost but I think it's a good idea to question the usage of the word "significant" almost immediately unless it's coming from a physics or statistics PhD.
      - iamcurious 9y ago
        That is the opposite of a shitpost.
amelius 9y ago
The question is, can the change be reversed?
- icantdrive55 9y ago
  It was a very small study. I didn't read the whole study, but I bet it could be picked apart. My wish is HN would only allow complete studies to be posted here, and not just summaries.
Florin_Andrei 9y ago
> I think it is safe to assume that Long Term Happiness changes the brain "permanently" in the same manner. Good intuition, and now we have hard scientific data to support it: https://www.amazon.com/Altered-Traits-Science-Reveals-Meditation/dp/0399184384/ https://www.amazon.com/Altered-Traits-Science-Reveals-Medita... Please note I am using a somewhat more general meaning of the word "happiness" than usually understood. Also, in your statement I would replace "same manner" with "similar manner, opposite direction" or something like that.
- grinsekatze 9y ago
  Thanks for the Link to the book, I put it on my list! I have read "Relaxation Response" a few years back (https://www.amazon.com/Relaxation-Response-Herbert-Benson/dp/0380815958 https://www.amazon.com/Relaxation-Response-Herbert-Benson/dp...) and shortly after have practiced this method every day for 6 weeks with my partner. We did this by listening to the meditation "Bring Mindfulness to Your Day"[0] early in the morning and i recall this being a beautiful period of serenity for both of us. Highly recommend the meditation - her voice alone is incredibly calming, plus: it gave a good overview of different meditation techniques. [0] This is the first track on Olivia Hoblitzelles meditation CD "Relaxing Mind and Body with the Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine" which can be found here https://www.amazon.com/Relaxing-Mind-Benson-Henry-Institute-Medicine/dp/B00J5YLQRI https://www.amazon.com/Relaxing-Mind-Benson-Henry-Institute-... and on itunes
joncrane 9y ago
I've found that once I recover from a tough time, when it happens again, I can tell myself "you've recovered from this before" and I have hope. Recovering the first time is tough, but it pays dividends.

cgriswald 9y ago

> Well, I think it is safe to assume that Long Term Happiness changes the brain "permanently" in the same manner. That would be a poor assumption. The "change" that was observed by the researchers was an increase in the amount of a protein which is an indicator for brain inflammation. Per the article, you see the same type of inflammation with diseases like Alzheimers. The takeaway is that depression is a progressive illness and current treatment doesn't address this progression.

devmunchies 9y ago
> current treatment doesn't address this progression I myself would rather see a prevention than a treatment. But there is no money in preventative care.
- Broken_Hippo 9y ago
  "But there is no money in preventative care" Yes, there is. You just aren't looking in the right places. Employers. Employees. Insurance companies and those that pay for insurance. Governments that provide health care to some or all of its citizens. Taxpayers that fund those programs.
  - Groxx 9y ago
    That's great to hear! Can I bill you for the difference between what I pay for preventative care after insurance, vs what this implies the cost should be?
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
lactau 9y ago
There is nothing about inflammation or Alzheimers in the title or anything else that would provide any kind of information. "Permanently changes the brain" is a meaningless buzzword.
- jakelazaroff 9y ago
  Barely even 100 words in: > The research shows that people with longer periods of untreated depression, lasting more than a decade, had significantly more brain inflammation compared to those who had less than 10 years of untreated depression.
  - aje403 9y ago
    I don't intend to shitpost but I think it's a good idea to question the usage of the word "significant" almost immediately unless it's coming from a physics or statistics PhD.
    - iamcurious 9y ago
      That is the opposite of a shitpost.

amelius 9y ago

The question is, can the change be reversed?

icantdrive55 9y ago
It was a very small study. I didn't read the whole study, but I bet it could be picked apart. My wish is HN would only allow complete studies to be posted here, and not just summaries.

Florin_Andrei 9y ago

> I think it is safe to assume that Long Term Happiness changes the brain "permanently" in the same manner. Good intuition, and now we have hard scientific data to support it: https://www.amazon.com/Altered-Traits-Science-Reveals-Meditation/dp/0399184384/ https://www.amazon.com/Altered-Traits-Science-Reveals-Medita... Please note I am using a somewhat more general meaning of the word "happiness" than usually understood. Also, in your statement I would replace "same manner" with "similar manner, opposite direction" or something like that.

grinsekatze 9y ago
Thanks for the Link to the book, I put it on my list! I have read "Relaxation Response" a few years back (https://www.amazon.com/Relaxation-Response-Herbert-Benson/dp/0380815958 https://www.amazon.com/Relaxation-Response-Herbert-Benson/dp...) and shortly after have practiced this method every day for 6 weeks with my partner. We did this by listening to the meditation "Bring Mindfulness to Your Day"[0] early in the morning and i recall this being a beautiful period of serenity for both of us. Highly recommend the meditation - her voice alone is incredibly calming, plus: it gave a good overview of different meditation techniques. [0] This is the first track on Olivia Hoblitzelles meditation CD "Relaxing Mind and Body with the Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine" which can be found here https://www.amazon.com/Relaxing-Mind-Benson-Henry-Institute-Medicine/dp/B00J5YLQRI https://www.amazon.com/Relaxing-Mind-Benson-Henry-Institute-... and on itunes

joncrane 9y ago

I've found that once I recover from a tough time, when it happens again, I can tell myself "you've recovered from this before" and I have hope. Recovering the first time is tough, but it pays dividends.