Amid stresses and pressure, New Yorkers find their happiness
Since 2008, consultant firms Gallup and Healthways have surveyed over one million Americans to determine which states and districts were perceived to be the most conscious about individual well being. The overall ranking of New York City has dropped from the third quartile in 2013, to the fourth quartile last year, in the 2014. The results of this survey, called the Well-Being Index, features feedback regarding six sub-indices including overall life evaluation, physical and emotional health, healthy behaviors, work environment and basic access to necessities. While healthy behaviors continues to rank well among New Yorkers, the challenging areas of emotional health and positive work environment reflected the loss of position among the other districts.
What these results do not indicate are the lengths, New Yorkers reach for to improve their overall perception on life and attain happiness and well being in bustling New York City. Many of these activities incorporate the elements Gallup and Healthways mention are important for overall well being such as a sense of purpose and community, sharing social connections with others as well as maintaining financial and physical health.
SOUL: Alternative therapies lead to inner peace
Phyllis Berg, an alternative practitioner in Park Slope opens her doors to demonstrate the power of crystals, light and sound. There are crystals in bowls all around her home. They line a fireplace at the base of her bed. The bed in her Healing Room is made of crushed crystals. The most impressive crystal tokens are her “Singing Bowls” which are tuned to produce a large resonating almost bell-like sound.
During a session, Berg says she uses these tools to “help people deal better with stress or to eliminate pain” and help her clients “to feel more in charge of their lives… and be on the path that really supports their goals and dreams and their health and well being.” This is why some have thought of her as a spiritual counselor, however she mentions that it is difficult to label and pinpoint the nature of what she does.
Berg, like many other practitioners, has visited the Rockstar Crystal Shop in Chelsea where alternative therapies seem to converge. Alex Fraumeni, a salesperson at the Rockstar Crystal Shop, explains how patrons benefit from the energetic properties of minerals, “There’s a lot of people that come in here because they need some type of healing. Those are people who are usually referred to us by friends or Reiki practitioners or some other healers.” In some ways these stones ease the exhausting effects of living in New York City which she describes as a “hive of disorder” that one can easily be swept into.
BODY: New York doctor goes to extreme lengths to find well being
Dr. Alex Hyppolite is a West Village resident that pursues athletic achievement to not only relieve stress but also to expand his sense of accomplishment, “I’m going to run a marathon on every single continent before I turn 40.” It is this sense of purpose which according to Gallup and Healthways, is one of the ‘essential elements’ of well being.
Participating in what the Well-Being Index refers to as Healthy Behaviors such as exercise, has many benefits. Dr. Hyppolite enters an almost meditative state when he runs, “I take it as a time to clear my mind… it’s actually nice to have a section of time where you can go blank.”
Dr. Hyppolite considers his athleticism a large part of his self identity so marathon training is a gratifying challenge. His effort has a positive influence on his overall sense of purpose, which Gallup and Healthways identifies as a major element of personal well being, “there are definitely days where I do not want to go and I force myself to. When I leave and when I push myself and I achieve my goals for the day I feel a sense of accomplishment and I feel good about myself.”
The sliding perception of emotional health is a trouble area for New York City. Although Dr. Hyppolite holds his hometown in high esteem, loneliness may be one explanation for the results, “I think NY is an isolated place. It’s a lot of people, so you can have a paradoxical effect of isolation. Also a lot of people are transplants so they may not be connected to their families as much.”
Dr. Hyppolite looks forward to his next marathon which will take place in Paris.
MIND: Brain researcher offers clues for happiness
Dr. Paula Croxson Assistant Professor at the Mt. Sinai School of Medicine discusses the connections between mental health, well being and living in New York City.
“There is no known location of happiness. There is probably a network of brain regions that are responsible for happiness and we only know a few of them yet.”
-Dr. Paula Croxson
The Role of the Hippocampus in Happiness
Studies refer to areas like the nucleus accumbens which responds to pleasant stimuli, and the amygdala which is often associated with coding negative experiences. It is the hippocampus located in the medial temporal lobe at the center of the brain that has received significant attention in neurological study. Researchers including Croxson have determined a role of the hippocampus in storing memories and positive experiences, “one of the things the hippocampus does is that it integrates lots of different details of memory: location, events and time who was there what was there in terms of objects in terms of places you were in.”
Pictured: The left and right hippocampus
From “The Anatomography” maintained by Life Science Databases
The Effects of Little to No Sleep
Functioning on little sleep is often a condition of life in New York City. Prolonged sleep deprivation and poor quality sleep hinders the hippocampus and the ability to remain positive. In a study called The Human Emotional Brain without Sleep found a 60% increase in activity in the amygdala in sleep deprived people compared to those with a normal nights rest. This activity made the subjects more responsive to negative images than to positive images. In another experiment, Overnight Therapy? The Role of Sleep Sleep deprived individuals were almost twice as likely to remember negative words than positive words.
Exercise activity in the Hippocampus
Exercise has the most definitive effect on overall happiness and has a significant role in counteracting a lack on sleep. According to Croxson, there are “new neurons abound after exercise” and the hippocampus shows “increases in the volume and the size of the hippocampus after taking exercise.”
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