Happiness is the Purpose to Life - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 3 Words: 753 Downloads: 1 Date added: 2019/04/22 Category Society Essay Level High school Tags: Happiness Essay Did you like this example? Happiness is the meaning and purpose to life, the whole aim, and end to human existence, said Aristotle more than 2,000 years ago. Happiness seems to always be the goal in our lives but what is the secret or key to it? It seems almost impossible to construct or make a plan to have a confirmed happy life. A Harvard study started in 1938 has made some insight to some secrets that not all of us may have realized. During the Great Depression in 1938, Harvard scientists took 268 physically and mentally healthy Harvard sophomores for a longitudinal study on happiness. This study included no females because, at the time, Harvard was an all-male school. This first study was known as the Grant Study There was a second study named The Glueck Study where the directors took 456 inner-city Boston men and studied them. These subjects happened to be a bit poorer than the Harvard subjects. Starting in 1939, a year after the Grant Study began, having the second control group helped scie ntists examine the differences between the two upcoming. This determines whether or not, money is a factor in happiness. Information on the subjects was gathered by personal interviews. Questions included were on career enjoyment, physical and mental health, retirement, their marriage quality. The goal of the study was to more or less, identify predictors of healthy aging. Scientists studied what psychosocial variables biological processes in childhood could predict the outcomes of older age. If that earlier lifetime could affect intimate relationships and marriage in the future. In this first generation study, scientists found in their subjects that relationships were one of the key factors in their health and well-being. The surprising finding is that our relationships and how happy we are in our relationships have a powerful influence on our health, said Robert Waldinger, director of the study, a psychiatrist at Massachusetts General Hospital and a professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. Taking care of your body is important, but tending to your relationships is a form of self-care too. That, I think, is the revelation. It was studied that relationships took over happiness more than fame or money. This was found in both studies. They also found other small results, such as alcoholism was a disorder. It was the main cause of divorces between The Grant Study men and their wives. It also found that instead of depression or neurosis being the cause of alcohol abuse it tended to precede it instead. Linked to cigarettes, this was the number one contributor to death. Another result found that financial success has nothing to do with intelligence, but depends on the warmth of their relationships. There was no significant difference between the incomes of men with low IQs versus men with high IQs. But those considered with high warm relationships earning about one hundred and forty-four thousand dollars more a year during their peak salaries than those not measuring high in warm relationships. One of the most interesting results was that those close with their mothers in childhood had a better work ethic, and earned an average of eighty-seven thousand dollars a year, more than those who were uncaring with their mothers. Those who were cold towards their mothers were more likely to get dementia when they were older as well. Men who were closer to their father as a child were less likely to have adult anxiety. They also enjoyed vacations or relaxing more. And unlike men being close to their mothers, they had increased life satisfaction at age seventy-five. Warmth in relationships had ultimately been the biggest factor in life satisfaction. George Eman Vaillant, another psychiatrist, and professor at Harvard Medical School, and director on the study wrote three books on the studies and concluded that Happiness is love. Full stop. Today, the studies continue on. Nineteen of the original subjects still live on to this day in their mid-nineties. The study has been going on for more than eighty years and is the longest study of adult life. The second generation study is in effect as well. This includes the first two studies offspring, which totals about 1,300 subjects who are now in their 50s and 60s. This study has and continues to prove that happiness is as simple as having long and lasting warm relationships. People who are close with their family have a greater chance of living long and prosperous and being the most satisfied with their lives. So maybe that long phone call with your mom doesnt sound too bad now, huh? Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Happiness is the Purpose to Life" essay for you Create order

Differences Between The Likeability And The Buckets Of...

4 Ways to Increase Likability By Silvia Mordini I never thought in terms of â€Å"likes† until I joined facebook 5 years ago. This simple word â€Å"like† has reframed my perspective. I have a love/hate relationship with it. Although I appreciate how important likability is for positive human relationships, I don’t want how we view each other and the world to be in the buckets of like or not. However in this new world of liking and friending, we have to find a way to make it work for us. Why? Because fundamentally we all prefer to be friends, do business, fall in love and work for people we like. Let’s begin with defining â€Å"likability.† According to Urban Dictionary, â€Å"Likable, charismatic, a trait in someone that is warm familiar comfortable and easy to be around. Friend worthy, A trait generally noticed right away instant feeling of comfort and trust desirable to be around.† Expert Tim Sanders, defines it in his book The Likeability Factor as having these 4 characteristics: 1. Friendliness: your ability to communicate liking and openness to others 2. Relevance: your capacity to connect with others interests, wants, and needs 3. Empathy: your ability to recognize, acknowledge, and experience other people s feelings 4. Realness: the integrity that stands behind your likeability and guarantees its authenticity Melissa Tamkins of Columbia University studied likability in the workplace for many years and concluded this: â€Å"Success in the workplace is guaranteed not by what or whomShow MoreRelatedNon Profit Organization Marketing : An Organization Essay1867 Words   |  8 Pagesinitially introduced by United Nations in 1960s, defined NGO as an aggregation from voluntary citizens to form an organization whose purpose are focus on local, national or even international level to dedicated to some particular issues on social causes like animal protection, same sex marriage or mental health to bring citizens’ concern to governments while encourage others stakeholders to participated in the organization to strive for social improvement by providing physical goods or services, monitoringRead MoreThe Effects of Advertising on Children33281 Words   |  134 Pages........................................................................ 57 Australian Communications and Media Authority 2 Summary Preface This report was prepared by the Bond University Centre for New Media Research and Education between August and November 2006. The research team was Dr Jeffrey E. Brand (Director), Dr Mark Bahr (Psychology), Ms Jill Borchard and Ms Tanya Neves, (PhD students at the Centre). This research was conducted by independent researchers and the conclusions

Mental Health and the Prison System Free Essays

Who are the victims of mental health and how they are treated within the legal and prison system? Mental health or mental illness, base on the question, ‘is concern with illnesses of the mind, or with treating illnesses of the mind.’ (Longman, p.890) These illnesses, which affect the mind, create hallucinations that can lead the people who suffer from them to cause harm to the innocent people who fall victim to them. We will write a custom essay sample on Mental Health and the Prison System or any similar topic only for you Order Now According to the Longman dictionary, the word ‘victim’ refers to ‘someone who has been attacked, robbed or murdered’. (Longman, p.1593) It can also refer to someone who suffers because they are affected by an illness. In January 1999, a young woman was pushed from behind, in front of a New York City subway train, to her death. Her murderer was a mentally ill patient who had refused to consume his medication. This young woman’s name was Kendra Webdale and the Kendra’s law was named after her. She was considered a victim of mental health. There are many other cases who were fall victim to these illnesses. Due to their mental illnesses, many people questioned whether these ‘criminals’ should be charged and face the consequences or should they be treated in the hospital for the mentally ill under strict control and supervision. They are being view as the victims of the mental health for the reason that they are not in their ‘right’ minds to judge. This occurs because they are suffering from the illness affecting their mind. Looking from the patients’ point of view, they are undergoing a lot of stress due to their conditions as they have fears that they are not accepted by the family, friends and society. With the stress they are undergoing, they might not be able to face the fact and would not want to take their medication. This had led to intervention of the legal system to control the situation. According to Kendra’s Law, a procedure has to be followed for obtaining court orders for certain individuals with mental illness to receive and accept assisted outpatient treatment (AOT). (Office of Mental Health, 2006) The mentally ill individual who can qualify for AOT must be at least 18 years old and shows a sign of being incapable of surviving on his own. In view of the concern that the patient may do serious harm to others in the society, an AOT is more likely to benefit him. The request for AOT can be done by the parent, spouse, sibling, director of a hospital, licensed psychologist or a probation officer. However, there are some lawyers who contest that the law will only serve to violate the patient’s process protection. In addition, many wonder if the implementation of this law is strong enough to force a person to take medication. There is always the possibility of the patient having tried to seek treatment but failed. As such, the government should not simply laws to force the taking of medication but for the state to provide medication as well. In the case of the prison system, there has been a significant increase in the number of inmates who are found to be severely mentally ill. Despite the increase in the number of inmates, the medical treatment necessary for this group of inmate did not increase. Moreover, the staff handling them are not properly trained and thus, many of these inmates are being victimized in the prison cells due to their disorganized speech and behaviour. Their inability to communicate well with others may in turn antagonize their officers or fellow inmates. In conclusion, the victims of mental health do not necessarily refer to only the ones suffering from the illness but those who are indirectly affected as well. The patients should be given proper and better treatment and the society should also be educated on how these patients need to be treated in order to survive in the society. Bibliography 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Harold E. Shabo. 2001. Social Costs: Criminal Justice and Mental Health System Gaps which Contribute to the Criminalization of Mentally Disordered Persons. California. 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Longman. 1999. Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English: International Students Edition. Pearson Education Limited. Spain. 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Office of Mental Health. 2006. An Explanation of Kendra’s Law. 4.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   About: Mental Health. 2006. Forced Mental Treatment has a Place.   http://www.mentalhealth.about.com/cs/schizophrenia/a/commit204.htm 5.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Mental Health Services. 2006. Bureau of Mental Health Services. http://www.drc.state.oh.us/web/mentalhealth.htm How to cite Mental Health and the Prison System, Essay examples