How to Make Good Things Happen: Know Your Brain, Enhance Your Life

by Marian Rojas Estape M. D.

Overview

An empowering journey through the mechanisms of the mind from one of the world’s leading mental health experts.

For those in pursuit of a better life, psychiatrist Marian Rojas Estapé presents the essential guide to neuroscience-driven mindfulness. Understanding your brain, managing your emotions, and being aware of your responses to stressors can give you greater self-control. Rather than a gimmicky guidebook, this is a thorough look at how our brains react to stress, threats, hyperstimulation, and the vices of our digital age. With proven techniques backed by  solid, up-to-date psychiatric research, Estapé teaches us how to make the best of our lives.

Combining science, psychology, and philosophy, Estapé delivers practical advice about how we can cultivate a happy existence. This includes understanding the parts of the brain, setting healthy goals and objectives, strengthening willpower, cultivating emotional intelligence, developing assertiveness, avoiding excessive self-criticism and self-demand, and mastering the proven art of optimism.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781682686478
Publisher:	Countryman Press, The
Publication date:	05/18/2021
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	8.90(w) x 6.20(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Marian Rojas Estapé, MD, is a psychiatrist working with the Spanish Institute of Psychiatric Research. She gives talks around the world on her research into happiness and stress management. Estapé lives in Madrid, Spain.

Table of Contents

The Start of a Journey xi

1 Destination: Happiness 1

Self-Esteem and Happiness 6

Happiness and Suffering 7

Trauma 9

Bedside Manner Is the Best Painkiller 13

Suffering Has Meaning 14

2 The Antidote to Suffering: Love 17

Love for Another Person 17

Love for Others 18

Love of Ideals and Beliefs 39

Love of Memories 40

3 Cortisol 45

Get to Know Your Traveling Companion 46

What Happens If You Return to the Site of a Traumatic Event? 48

What Happens If You Live with Constant Anxiety? 49

Understanding the Nervous System 50

Symptoms Caused by "Toxic Cortisol" 51

My Mind and My Body Can't Tell Truth from Fiction 55

Nutrition, Inflammation, and Cortisol 56

What Role Does the Digestive System Play in Inflammation? 57

Is Depression an Inflammatory Illness of the Brain? 59

4 Neither What Has Been Nor What Is To Come 63

Healing the Wounds of the Past and Getting Excited for the Future 63

Guilt 64

How to Pacify Feelings of Guilt 67

Depression 68

Forgiveness 73

What Is Compassion? 81

Living with Anxiety for the Future 82

Highly Charged Emotional Memories 86

How to Deal with an Amygdala Hijack 88

5 Living in the Present Moment 95

A Fundamental Discovery 98

Belief System 101

State of Mind 102

Attentive Capacity: The Ascending Reticular Activating System (ARAS) 113

Learning to Look at Reality Again 120

Neuroplasticity and Attention 123

6 Emotions and Their Impact on Health 125

What Are Emotions? 125

Positive Psychology 125

A Study with Surprising Participants 126

The Principal Emotions 127

The Molecules of Emotion 128

Drowning in Swallowed Emotions 129

Learning to Express Your Emotions 131

What Happens to Repressed Emotions? 134

What Does Crying Do? 135

Principal Psychosomatic Symptoms of Blocking the Emotions 136

Attitude as a Key Factor in Health 140

And…What About Cancer? 141

What Happens in Metastasis? 144

Simple Steps for Managing Emotions Well 145

Telomeres 147

7 Triggers and Attitudes That Increase Cortisol 151

Fear of Losing Control 154

Perfectionism 160

Chronopathy: Obsession with the Efficient Use of Time 164

The Digital Era 169

8 How to Lower Cortisol Levels 175

Exercise 175

Handling Toxic People 177

Six Keys for Managing a Toxic Person 179

Positive Thoughts 181

A Simple Guide to Worrying Less 182

Meditation/Mindfulness 184

Omega-3 187

9 Best Possible Self 191

Who Am I? 191

BPS: Best Possible Self 194

Knowledge 195

Willpower 196

Setting Goals and Objectives 197

Passion 198

It's Never Too Late to Start Again: The Case of Judith, the Porn Star 201

Author's Note to the 10th Spanish Edition 205

Acknowledgments 207

Bibliography 209

Index 211