Why Unhappiness Is As Important As Happiness

Why Unhappiness Is As Important As Happiness
Loretta Breuning (Courtesy of Bay Area Innovators)
Steve Ispas
2/28/2024
Updated:
3/22/2024

What is happiness? Is unhappiness curable? Today we sit down with Dr.Loretta G. Breuning, who spent years on research on the origin and theories that revolve around happiness. She will talk about the reason of happiness from a biological perspective, as well as the history and popular ideas of how to pursue happiness.

“They are telling us that happiness is the natural norm of state and if you are unhappy it is a disease that be fixed by treatment” says Breuning, founder of the Inner Mammal Institute and Professor Emerita of Management at California State University, East Bay.  During this episode we discuss the accuracy of the “disease model” and how science arrived at the conclusion that unhappiness is to be treated by doctors and various services at the direction of advocacy groups.

“Academics and therapists must fit this model to avoid career suicide and the media tends to fit it because the pharmaceutical companies are one of the biggest advertisers” added Breuning.