Behavioral Activation Therapy - BAT

Time spent making friends has a higher happiness Return on Investment than time spent making money.

Also, introduce friends to friends. Friends becoming happy increases your chance of happiness by 45%. Keeping the network happy protects you against unhappiness.

A few studies looked at the genetic similarity between friends and found that on a very deep level you resemble your friends genetically. 

What this means is that, basically, your friends are kin that you choose.

It implies acknowledging and respecting the sacredness and uniqueness of each kind of person. Self-Actualization also necessitates full access to information, full knowledge of the truth, and being able to choose without fear or social pressure.

The one thing left out of this theory is social psychology, as all the needs of a human being cannot be understood in isolation and social conditions are also necessary for personal growth.

It involves advancing a cause greater and beyond the self, experiencing a drastic shift in perspective, beyond the confines of the self through the highest level of experience.

Self-transcenders have a completely selfless value system and are leaning towards serving humanity, with an eventual goal of transcending their ego.

It is where we intentionally apply what we have learned, and we work towards mastery.

• Take care of your health (physically and mentally), to ensure your mind and body are ready for growth.
• Manage your emotions in a constructive way. Unresolved anger, resentment, fear, and contempt create tremendous barriers to personal and professional progress.
• Building something new is always challenging, but should rarely be painful. Realizing we are miserable or unhappy is the first step to change.

While it’s obvious we need to exhibit a certain amount of self-control while choosing what we put in our bodies, that is not the whole story.

If we educate our bodies and learn about nutrition, longevity and how our individual bodies function, we could be eating a lot healthier.

There is a lot of stuff available for us to do that makes us feel better instantly. Watching TV, going to the beach, drinking alcohol, smoking, and almost every other activity that seems pleasurable to us, giving us temporary pleasure in a jiffy. When we keep doing that, the long term effects are bad, and we feel older, weaker, sicker, while not having any achievement in our lives.

This is a natural process of a slow movement towards disorder, is also the second law of thermodynamics, called Entropy.

It happens only when:

• You define your goals clearly 
• You have the capacity to complete the tasks necessary to achieve them.

While endless scrolling on your phone is a symptom of the problem, it is not the root cause of why you find it hard to focus.

To learn how to focus, you must adopt new skills as well as understand the most common causes of distraction.

Depression can be distilled down into a problematic cycle due to reduced activity and low mood: when there is less activity, the person becomes withdrawn or isolated, and new opportunities become less likely, leading to a downward spiral.

Prolonged isolation and inactivity make previously enjoyable activities challenging or unappealing, making people withdraw further.

The Behavioral Theory states that positive reinforcement acts as oxygen for the body/mind/soul, and makes the person break the cycle of negativity and depression.

The depression cycle of inactivity can be broken by Behavioural Activation which is an effective depression therapy in psychology. The depressed people are made to engage in activities they have stopped doing or are reluctant to do now.

Instead of triggering more anxiety by rehashing your quarantine situations, think about what you can do to make your friends feel good and how to be there for them from a distance.

Tell them they matter to you and that you miss them. Then keep the conversation focused on things that make you both feel good.

• What’s something that made you smile or laugh this week?
• What was the highlight of your day or week?
• What have you been watching recently?
• Have you read any good books or articles?
• What’s your favorite podcast right now?
• What have you been enjoying about working from home?
• What have you been cooking?
• Have you ordered out from any good restaurants lately?
• What is making you feel most productive right now?
• What is making you feel most at peace right now?
• Have you found any fun ways to be creative?
• What’s the most absurd thing you’ve seen on social media recently?
• Where are you finding a sense of purpose right now?
• What hobbies are you leaning into?
• What are you doing to relax?

• Look for support from people who make you feel safe and cared for. They just need to be a good listener.
• Make face-time a priority. Talking to someone face to face about how you feel can play a big role in relieving depression.
• Try to keep up with social activities even if you don’t feel like it. 
• Find ways to support others. 
• Caring for a pet can get you outside of yourself and give you a sense of being needed.
• Join a support group for depression. 

Do things that relax and energize you. This includes following a healthy lifestyle, learning how to better manage stress, setting limits on what you’re able to do, and scheduling fun activities into your day.

Even if your depression doesn’t lift immediately, you’ll gradually feel more upbeat and energetic as you make time for fun activities.

When you are in a state of “flow” it is not good to take a break.

“Flow” is characterized by complete absorption in the task, seemingly effortless concentration, and pleasure in the task itself.

A “good break” will give that goal-oriented Prefrontal Cortex of yours a good rest by switching brain activity to another area.