We started this blog stating that the “Thoughtful Examinations” was about life, knowledge, and happiness, yet we have spent the least amount of time, so far, on the topic of happiness, but not today. Let us start with a question: what causes happiness?
Before answering the question, we will briefly consider the two kinds of experiences of happiness. As per Nobel laureate Daniel Kahneman, they are the experiencing self and remembering self. The former is about joy, or the pain someone undergoes at a given moment, and the latter is about how she remembers it later.
Kahneman’s team conducted an experiment in which he collected data from 682 patients undergoing the colonoscopy process. As you may know, a colonoscopy is not a pleasant experience. It was a randomised control test (RCT) in which the group was divided into two – the first group was called the normal, and the second was the modified.
Adding a minute of happiness
For the normal group, it was the standard colonoscopic procedure, whereas, for the modified group, the researchers added a few minutes of a non-pharmacologic intervention by extending the duration with lessened pain to the patient. The tip of the colonoscope was allowed to rest in the rectum for about 3 minutes without any suction or inflation.
The assessment used the so-called Gottman–Levenson approach: the participants (patients who authorised the researchers to collect data) got a handheld device through which one can mark the extent of pain at regular intervals, from no pain (score = 0) to extreme pain (score = 10).
The end makes a difference
The study results were evaluated on two parameters – the patient’s feedback to a questionnaire and the rate of return for a follow-up colonoscopy. The questionnaire was a retrospective evaluation of how a participant felt about the procedure. The results were significantly different from each other. The patients who received the modified treatment remembered the whole event as less painful, although the beginning, the middle part and the peak pains were comparable to both groups.
