Episode 5: Happiness
Episode description
Today on the Agenda we take a look at what makes us happy. How do we define happiness? Is trying too hard to be happy – in fact making us miserable?
To answer these questions We’re joined on the podcast by Dr. Loretta Breuning, a celebrated author and also the founder of the Inner Mammal Institute – an organisation dedicated to highlighting how our brain chemistry can impact our sense of well-being. Dr. Breuning explains how the chemical make-up our brains has a profound impact on how we experience happiness [01:20]. She also explains how its possible to remain happy in an unhappy world [02.36].
I also caught up with Professor Trudy Chalder from the Institute of Psychiatry at King’s College London to see how happiness and sadness are inextricably linked. Professor Chalder goes into detail about why its important to not ignore feelings of depression and anxiety when we discuss what happiness is and means [06.06]
I also talk to Mike Wiking from the Happiness Research Institute in Copenhagen about how governments are starting to take the happiness of their citizens more seriously. Mike tells us how politicians are addressing happiness and why the happiness of a population is becoming increasingly important [11:35]. He also explains the six factors that explain the wide divide in happiness between countries across the globe [13.20].