Habits of a Happy Brain: Retrain Your Brain to Boost Your Serotonin, Dopamine, Oxytocin, & Endorphin Levels Paperback – December 16, 2015

This is the second time I’ve read this book. I love the practical action steps and detailed yet entertaining explanations of brain function.

While I wasn’t getting drunk everyday, I was drinking copious amounts of alcohol on the weekends which I would come to regret doing so by Monday. This went on for a decade. I really felt STUCK in a cycle. As someone who is extremely introverted, drinking and partying on the weekend was something I deemed as necessary to socialize/be one of the group. I felt that I need to drink to actually survive in a world I didn’t feel comfortable being myself in. I eventually stopped partying but the drinking stayed. It was apparent that the drinking had became something I did out of habit now. How I learned to cope with stress. I wondered if I could ever stop the cycle. I didn’t want to have to go to AA even though I felt like it would be the only thing that would help until I did, as the book suggests, learn how to “do nothing” when I felt that urge to “do something.” At first, it was hard sitting around on a Friday/Saturday night with my own thoughts, bored out of my mind. I honestly didn’t know what to do with myself. Every time I felt like I was going to give in I just reminded myself that the urge I was feeling has a basis in survival and that I can rewire my brain to learn new ways to survive. Anyways, I would definitely recommend this book.

Teachable

Easy to read, sensible, simple, structured and to the point. (Repeats the point quite a lot in fact! But for good reason)This book opened my eyes in a big way to the motivating factors of human beings and all mammals. It suddenly makes sense to me why there seem to be so many stupid idiots in the world and why I often behave like one of them! I understand what causes people to look down on each other, why we fish for compliments, why we are never satisfied with what we have even if it seems good on the surface.Once you read this, you may feel like the Matrix of life has been revealed to you. Take the red pill. Humanity is not what you thought it was.The second half of the book teaches us how to bypass those instinctive deep-brain habits, and create new habits that are actually helpful to us. It's based on a 45 day habit creation process which makes so much sense its almost dumb.The first half made me depressed, thinking that I was a slave to my neurochemistry, a prisoner of my monkey-ancestors survival mechanisms which I am unable to avoid, notice or escape once caught up in them, but the second half gives hope, and a technique to create new habits. I base this 5 star review on the first half alone, although after reading it I feel like humankind is not really as clever or free at it thinks it is.At least we have some wiggle room to change a few things!

So much valuable information clearly explained. Empowering. Optimistic. A straightforward plan to make changes in your life. You can create a different reality.

I was less than happy with this book. Although it did describe the different ways that your brain gets happy, it really was less than satisfactory in telling how to help your brain get happy in those ways, especially in regards to seratonin. There was a lot of repetition. When I finished the book, I still felt like I needed more information. It is good for a for a general introduction to the different things that affect your brain, but if you are looking for a way to move forward, this may not be your best choice. On the other hand, I haven't found anything better, so maybe I am looking for something that doesn't exist.

Years of working in my depression and habits and I finally have a framework I can visualize to create actionable plans for dealing with both. Having an easy to relate to model of brain chemical interactions was the missing piece understanding why certain techniques work, and understanding the why is essential for me to form a long term commitment to change.Experts in psychology and motivation may have a different view. But, I know if I explain things in my area of expertise with all details and nuance a non-expert would be lost or bored before finishing. This author chunked the knowledge and delivered it in just the right detail for me to finally understand my internal struggle for balance.

Reading this book and exploring the accompanying website The Inner Mammal Institute will bring you more insight into your own behavior and the behavior of others. I highly recommend exploring your inner mammal with this book. I got so involved I even taught a class to older adults on the subject after I became a certified trainer. Understanding the chemical processes of your brain doesn't mean your'e stuck in that behavior, it means that once you recognize what is happening you can train different neural pathways.