Tanmay Bhat, a famous Indian comic, once tried consoling his friend who was grieving from something. “Things will be better”.
“Aree rota hun, isliye achche din hote hain” (I cry, that’s why there are good days), It made me think that feelings don’t exist in isolation. If we were to assume that everyone is perpetually happy, then everyone would become sad due to excess happiness. Feelings are relative. They’re also not permanent and there’s research to back me up on this.
Donald Campbell and Philip Brickman coined the term Hedonic Treadmill, which is a perpetual emotional cycle that postulates the existence of a happiness set point regardless of extreme affective events. In simpler terms, however happy or however sad you get, you’ll get back to how you normally feel. If you get a job promotion, if you get terminated, if you get into a relationship, if you face heartbreak, if you feel happy or sad, it’ll all return to stability, to a set point of happiness.
Why does this happen? The answer is simple–habituation. Paraphrasing a philosopher’s words, we began to crave comforts that become necessities and the loss of them pains us more than the joy of having them. We get used to having good things and we get comfortable with the bad things that, after a point, it stops affecting us as much. This begs the question–can you ever get out of this treadmill? Some research has shown that people tend to have a low set point that can’t change, while others have argued that the treadmill doesn’t exist. What research says is that everyone, across cultures, tends to have a set point higher than a sentiment of neutrality. However, it is possible to change it. There are multiple ways to do it. Make a gratitude journal. Live a simpler life with lesser tasks. Increase the efforts you put into your social and intimate relationships.
But more than anything, learn to be human. We often confuse crying and suffering as being negative as they are painful, but it’s often in suffering that we find purpose. It is often in crying that we find relief. It is often when we vent that we achieve solace. It’s often in the bad that we find good. These are all just parts of living a life of a Sapien. So don’t focus on getting off the treadmill. Embrace it, as it’s what makes us, us.
References:
1. Deiner, E., Lucas, R. E., & Scallon, C. N. (2022, August 10). Beyond the Hedonic Treadmill: Revising the Adaptation Theory of Well-Being. YouTube. Retrieved February 9, 2023, from https://sci-hub.ru/10.1007/978-90-481-2350-6_5
2. Legg, T. J., Davidson, K., & Coyle, D. (2020, October 2). Hedonic Treadmill: How Does it Affect Your Happiness? Healthline. Retrieved February 9, 2023, from https://www.healthline.com/health/hedonic-treadmill#long-term-happiness
3. Pennock, F., & Neuhaus, M. (n.d.). The Hedonic Treadmill - Are We Forever Chasing Rainbows? PositivePsychology.com. Retrieved February 9, 2023, from https://positivepsychology.com/hedonic-treadmill/
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