Psychology 101: “I don’t Happines. Happiness is not good… I like depression…” (from the movie ‘Life stinks, with actor Mel Brooks)

 *”I don't like happiness. Happiness is not good… I like depression…” (From the movie ‘Life stinks’ with Mel Brooks)

**By Hector Williams Zorrilla

I saw that movie when it came out to the public many years ago in the cinema. I saw it at a movie theater in Brooklyn, NY, which is where Mel Brooks, the writer, actor and director of the movie “Life Stinks” was born. If you have the possibility watch the movie for free on YouTube.

Surveys in all the countries of the globe indicate that 63% of the inhabitants of the earth like to be happy, and that they also enjoy some levels of happiness in their daily lives.

Clearly, there is a 37% who is not happy.

In that percentage there are many millions of people who believe and live in their own daily experiences what the actress of the movie "Life stinks" says to Mel Brooks when he invites her to celebrate her life.

This is what she told him: “I don't like happiness. Happiness is not good. I like depression because it is stable and offers you security…”

Neurosciences now know that this type of belief is formed, develops and grows in the brain, specifically, in neural connections due to repeated and believed unhappy experiences. These unhappy memories are repeatedly repeated and believed to the degree that people enjoy unhappy experiences and disconnect from the happy ones.

All these experiences of unhappiness are repeated so many times, that people come to believe in their blood and bones, that "Life stinks", that happiness does not exist, and if it exists, it is not something good for them and that they must prevent happiness from reaching them. The sad thing is that these people fervently reject any vestige of happiness that appears in their lives, because they learned to be unhappy and feel good and please with unhappiness experiences in their daily lives.

The millions of people with these beliefs about the emotion of happiness prefer the emotion of depression and being depressed than happy, because the emotion of depression brings them more emotional security than the emotion of happiness. It could be said that these people are blissfully unhappy.

The good news: techniques and methods from the neurosciences, and specifically from neuropsychology and cognitive psychology, can now teach people how to change these neural connections in their brains. There are now competent professionals in the science of psychology who can collaborate with people to change these neural connections in their brains, and become people who accept happiness and the possibility of becoming really happy people.

The best news: people who go through this process of changing their neural connections learn that life is beautiful, and that happiness is good and possible. They also learned, that happiness is good and possible for every human being. And furthermore, that life is always beautiful no matter how many different color of glasses we put on to see it.

Note: actor Mel Brooks is celebrating his 95th birthday by publishing his autobiography.

**The author is a psychologist, university professor and writer