The wheel of emotion needs to be in balance for happiness...

President of Üsküdar University Psychiatrist Prof. Nevzat Tarhan attended the "Cerrahpaşa Faculty of Medicine 2nd National Psychiatry Congress". At the congress with the main theme of 'Human and Emotions', Tarhan made a presentation titled "Examination of Happiness from an Emotional and Psychiatric Perspective". Noting that determining one's purpose in life and managing one's expectations has an important place in personality development, Tarhan said that it is necessary to pursue meaning to be happy. Reminding that empathy skills are required to establish a healthy relationship, Tarhan said that "Arrogant, narcissistic, self-proclaimed gods on the earth cannot be happy. A person who experiences many emotions needs to be able to keep the wheel of emotion in balance..."

"The happiness of meaning has been replaced by the happiness of pleasure..."

At the congress hosted by Cerrahpaşa Faculty of Medicine, President of Üsküdar University Psychiatrist Prof. Nevzat Tarhan noted that determining one's purpose in life and managing one's expectations is very important in personality development. Tarhan stated that "A person without expectations gives themselves up to the influence of events; however, a person with a projection of the future can do very important things about their future. This is something that has come historically. There are two definitions of happiness developed by Aristotle. The first is the pursuit of pleasure, the second is the pursuit of meaning. For a person to be happy in life, one needs to pursue meaning. With modernism, especially in the 1900s and 2000s, the happiness of meaning was replaced by the happiness of pleasure due to the glorification of consumption by the capitalist system. Now, in the 21st century, the happiness of meaning has come to the fore much more in making people happy. Contributing to this is the emergence of neuroscience. With the emergence of neuroscience and brain sciences, there was a revolution in psychiatry."

Material well-being is one thing, and semantic well-being is another...

Underlining that happiness cannot be bought with money, Tarhan stated that "The capitalist system does not care about human happiness. In other words, it does not matter if people produce or are not happy. There is an imperialist system. They do not think about people's happiness. A system that thinks more about winning and serves the world's ambition. In the U.S.A., GDP per capita has increased; however, happiness has decreased. There is a phrase for this, and rightly so, ‘Money does not buy happiness.’ This saying says true. In Türkiye, the equivalent of this is 'There is no happiness with money'. That is to say, material well-being is one thing, and semantic well-being is another. Meaning is referred to as prosperity, spiritual well-being. In other words, the person who can achieve this prosperity is happy. When one focuses on material well-being but not semantic well-being, one cannot be happy in this way."

Is the universe a simulation?

Expressing that the relativity of time emerged after the relativity of matter was proven, Prof. Tarhan stated that "Einstein had discovered the relativity of matter. This is information that has already been proven. Now the relativity of matter has emerged, as has the relativity of time. In other words, a photon 100 million light-years away in the universe can talk to a photon here independently of time and space. It is called photon theory. As such, the human brain works in connection with the universe. Currently, the most common work is consciousness studies. In these studies of consciousness, 'Is the human brain an interface between the mind and the brain? Are we living in simulation? Is the universe a simulation right now?' questions have now become an area that science is seriously investigating. This was a work that revolutionized psychiatry."

"Frontal tissue provides the balance of the masculine and feminine brains"

Talking about the emotional differences between the male heart and the female heart, Prof. Tarhan expressed that "The left brain is the masculine while the right brain is the feminine brain. The left brain is related to the masculine brain, logic, reasoning, analysis, thinking, and calculation. Emotions, excitements, music, art, aesthetics are all about the right brain. The frontal brain balances both. In other words, the masculine brain provides the balance of the feminine brain and the frontal tissue. It is innate, a man uses his rational brain, and a woman uses her emotional brain. As the balance of logic and emotion of the two matures, it can provide both."

The biggest consequence of narcissism is loneliness...

Drawing attention to the fact that loneliness has become an epidemic, Prof. Tarhan stated that "While humanity has become so liberated, narcissism has increased. A narcissistic personality is a personality type that puts itself at the center of the world. They consider themselves special, important and superior. The biggest consequence of narcissism in the UK turned out to be loneliness. Thus, the Ministry of Loneliness was established in England. People cannot make the relationship work when they only think about their own interests. Divorces are increasing. The World Health Organization says there are three dangers that await the future. The first is income inequality globally, the second is climate change, and the third is loneliness. In other words, there is a situation of becoming an epidemic. Currently, the rate of out-of-wedlock births in Northern Europe is over 50 percent. This is linked to loneliness as a global problem. In other words, single-parent households are multiplying rapidly. Household vulnerability is increasing.”

It is important to keep the wheel of emotion in balance for happiness...

Underlining that people who succeed in staying calm under stress turn the wheel of emotion in a healthy way, Tarhan said that "Human beings do not go in a straight line in life. It can change over time. People who manage the ability to stay calm under stress spin the wheel of emotions in a healthy way. Because no one feels the same. We experience all emotions on certain days, at certain times, and at certain events. It is a natural situation, but the whole work is able to carry it out in a balanced way. There is a time to be angry, and there is a time to control anger. The important thing for happiness and success is that all of these are in harmony."

“Empathy skills are necessary to establish a healthy relationship"

Stating that when all evils are put together, lack of empathy opens the door, Tarhan expressed that "Martin Seligman has the PERMA Model. The first of that model is positive emotional state, if you want to be happy, it is important to stay in a positive emotional state in every environment. To be able to experience the same happiness in the palace and in prison. There are flowers that bloom in every season. Pure, pure happiness. Capturing authentic happiness. Those who invest can learn this. The second is a sense of flow. The person is immersed in a subject. They say, 'You're working hard, I'm not working, I'm doing what I love.' People do not get tired while doing what they love. Love what you do or do what you love. The third is to be able to establish healthy relationships. People who can establish healthy relationships can live happier lives. To establish a healthy relationship, it is necessary to have empathy skills. If you put all the evils together, the door opens to a lack of empathy. Lack of empathy exists in people who are arrogant, narcissistic, and see themselves as gods of the earth. Such people cannot be happy. The fourth step of the PERMA Model is meaning. If one wants to be happy, there must be a part of meaning. There is purpose in meaning. If a person has no purpose, he cannot capture meaning. Meaning is the most important parameter in a person's life. It is very important to be able to pursue meaning. And the fifth is to have small successes. On the way to great success, dopamine is released in the brain. You get up in the morning and you are thankful. The brain releases dopamine, you relax and relax in an instant."

It is not enough to realize yourself for happiness, but it is also necessary to transcend yourself…

Emphasizing that people need to transcend themselves to be happy, Prof. Tarhan stated that "There is Maslow's Hierarchy of Psychosocial Needs. This is always stated incompetently. At the bottom, there are eating, drinking, reproduction, and shelter. At the top, there is self-actualization. Maslow put self-transcendence at the top, the act of self-transcendence. It is not enough for a person to realize oneself to be happy. One needs to transcendence themselves. A person does good for their family, for others. They make others happy and make themselves happy. The feeling of self-transcendence is very important. To manage emotions, it is necessary to manage the source of emotions well. The source of emotion is psychological capital. Being able to manage our emotional capital correctly leads us to happiness. Being a good person is the rent of our existence. Because we are human, it is a rent for our existence. It is to appreciate what we have."

Photograph: Sevde Korkut

News: Eda Nur Keçeci

 

Üsküdar News Agency (ÜNA)