Mental Health and Happiness

Here’s the Meaning of Euphoria in Mental Health and Spirituality.

Paradoxically a euphoric state of mind depends on physical and emotional health. Meet a powerful tool to live a meaningful life.

Introduction

Natural euphoria, from my perspective, is not as crazy a state of mind as often perceived. On the contrary, it is an altered state of mind reflecting the inner joy from simply embodying a precious human on this earth, accepting life as is by staying in the reality zone with pleasant excitement despite frenetic noise and environmental disruptions.

Euphoria is the act of celebrating every moment of being chosen among billions of sperms in human form with soul. But, more importantly for me, manifesting this unique state of mind creates a bridge between the conscious and unconscious minds where wisdom resides.

Being aware of infinity in human form can be a catalyst to generate euphoric feelings naturally. In the big scheme of things, problems and noise disappear and are replaced with an exhilarant feeling followed by gratitude and serenity.

My Happy and Sad Story of Euphoria

I had a euphoric childhood despite many challenges, ups, and downs. I did not grow up in a wealthy family and certainly did not enjoy luxury. I had my share of childhood traumas too, which I transformed into valuable experiences. Yet always, I had a special feeling that instantly helped me recover from pain.

My brain had a unique circuit to make me continuously live a euphoric life until the age of 16. Then I suddenly lost this precious capability which disappointed me and made me very sad. I had no clue why my friend's euphoria deserted me with no warning.

In primary school, I loved learning in a special school, not a private one. Each piece of knowledge I acquired immediately put me into a euphoric state. Since I learned about every element with passion, my academic scores in the primary and early years of secondary school were excellent.

However, my focus was not on gaining high scores. Getting A+ in my classes was just an outcome. In other words, I did not study to get high scores. Instead, I studied with a passion for learning. I still use this principle in my personal and professional life.

Acquiring knowledge in my interest areas was one of the apparent triggers for a euphoric state of mind in my early years, but the same method did not produce the results in my college years.

I studied my favorite subjects to re-experience euphoric moments. Even at the postgraduate level, I studied the theory of euphoria in cognitive science classes. I felt joy by exploring new topics but did not reach the euphoric state that I used to experience in my childhood years. My body was wounded. Thus, the euphoria did not manifest in that suffering mode.

I spent years getting this remarkable state of mind back by learning more about it and re-modeling my behavior from my childhood. However, despite all my efforts, I hadn’t felt euphoria until the age of 50, when I transformed my life into a new version through mainly physical activities aligned with my mental and spiritual goals.

Losing euphoria for three decades was heart-breaking at mental and spiritual levels. I knew it was within me, but it fell into darkness due to many mistakes I made unintentionally and naively. Misplacing my euphoric state was the consequence I had to face for acting against my nature. I shared some of those mistakes in this story. 7 Mental Mistakes Made My Life Miserable: How I corrected them and transformed into a better person.

Our body has a pearl of wisdom, empowering our mental health and spiritual satisfaction. For example, even though euphoria is associated with mental health and spirituality, paradoxically, I regained it after fixing my physical health conditions and healing the emotional pain caused by physical health and fitness. This suffering taught me the importance of psychosomatic, the interconnectedness of the body and mind.

There is an association of euphoria with unnatural and unorthodox methods such as drugs. As I have never tried them, I have no experience with bizarre ways of creating euphoric states. Yet, I have significant experience of natural euphoria reflected in my personal, interpersonal, and professional life.

According to science, euphoria could be a problem, but I have a different view.

In this section, I want to provide a critical review of the medical perspective on euphoria, as some content I found did not make sense to me and did not align with my experience. I am the embodiment of exceptions being the rule.

In simple terms, euphoria is a pleasant feeling, a state of intense excitement, heightened happiness, and inner joy. This is the public understanding as derived from the Greek world εὐφορία, originally meaning being well to bear.

Even though older neurophysiologists such as Thomas Laycock in the 1800s described euphoria as “the feeling of bodily well-being and hopefulness,” modern scientists have introduced a different perspective. Some neuroscientists see euphoria as a medical condition. More precisely, they see it as a symptom of some neuropsychiatric and neurological disorders.

For example, as mentioned in this clinical neuroscience book, “depressed mood and anhedonia in depressed individuals, and euphoria and increased involvement in goal-directed activities in patients, who experience mania, may reflect opposing abnormalities in the nucleus accumbens, medial prefrontal cortex, amygdala, or other structures.”

The relationship between euphoria with mania looks fine. However, interestingly, when I experienced anhedonia for a short while during my existential crisis in my younger years, I was far from feeling euphoric, so this scientific point of view did not resonate with my experience. However, I believe that it might be the case for some individuals.

This book points out that “exposure to addictive chemicals not only produces extreme euphoric states that may initially motivate drug use but also causes equally extreme adaptations in reinforcement mechanisms and motivated behavior that eventually lead to compulsive use. Accordingly, the evolutionary design of human and animal brains that has helped promote our survival has also made us vulnerable to addiction.” I agree with the effects of artificial euphoria.

This scientific book hosted by NIH mentions that “when alcohol is consumed, it interacts with several neurotransmitter systems in the brain, including the inhibitory neurotransmitter GABA, glutamate, and others that produce euphoria as well as the sedating, motor impairing, and anxiety-reducing effects of alcohol intoxication.”

I agree with the sedative effects of alcohol. However, when I consumed alcohol in my younger years, I did not feel euphoric at all. Alcohol made me feel extremely sad. I was in a grief-stricken position. Therefore, I never liked drinking alcohol and gave it up after a few trials, as mentioned in this story: Agreeing With Both Biden And Trump On Alcohol.

The same book points out that “opioids attach to opioid receptors in the brain, which leads to a release of dopamine in the nucleus accumbens, causing euphoria (the high), drowsiness, and slowed breathing, as well as reduced pain signaling (which is why they are frequently prescribed as pain relievers). Again I agree with these points about artificial euphoria.

The definition of euphoria in the context of a psychiatric condition by Medicinet mentions that it is accompanied by symptoms of euphoria such as restlessness, hallucinations, disorientation, confusion, paranoia, and even mood swings. Even though the source does not mention it, I assume this is about artificial euphoria.

When I was feeling euphoric in my childhood and regained the ability after the age of 50, I did not experience any of these symptoms. For example, instead of restlessness, I was more in a flow state with full concentration on my activities with remarkable joy gained from each completed task. Instead of confusion, I had clarity.

So far, the explanation of euphoria aligned with my experience is offered by NIH’s National Institute on Drug Abuse. I agree with this perspective. The resource points out:

“Euphoria is that excitement you get from getting a perfect score on a test or attention from someone you have a crush on. It can come from a roller coaster ride or the rush from physical activity like downhill skiing, especially the first time. These feelings of euphoria are all healthy and natural.

What’s not healthy or natural is taking drugs to feel “euphoric.” Drugs of abuse artificially produce euphoria by manipulating your brain chemistry to make it seem that something exciting is happening. To get this feeling again, you may choose to use the drugs again and again. And that can lead to craving and addiction.”

I fully agree with the distinction between natural and artificial euphoria. Natural euphoria did not consume me and did not interfere with my living. Far from it, it made me more focused, more joyful, and more satisfied with my life.

Brief Perspectives from Art

Artists love a euphoric state of mind. They create it intentionally. The concept of euphoria is used in literary works, fiction, movies, comedy, painting, and music.

As French painter and sculptor Henri-Robert-Marcel Duchamp articulated, “each second, each breath is a work which is inscribed nowhere, which is neither visual nor cerebral. It’s a kind of constant euphoria.”

Euphoria is in all walks of life. For example, Todd Joseph Miller, an American actor, and comedian, said, “Comedy gives you a shot of euphoria that distracts you from everything that’s awful.”

Kevin Richard Parker, an Australian musician, shared his experience of music by saying, “Nothing matches the sheer euphoria of discovering a new melody or a new batch of chords that just come out of nowhere.”

It is also possible to see euphoria in the modern world, such as in special cities. For example, Duane Charles Parcells once said: “There are two things in New York, euphoria and disaster.”

In addition, spiritual practices embrace euphoria in art form. Some spiritual people manifest spiritual euphoria by uniting thoughts with feelings.

My Reunion with Euphoria Later in Life

Since age 16, I have suffered from several health conditions. Unfortunately, I was not aware of the root causes. As a result, I wasted my valuable time and effort suppressing symptoms that worsened my situation. Finally, when I was around 40, I found out that almost everything I did regarding my health was wrong. The suffering was unbearable.

This awareness put me into a critical search stage. Using my inquisitive yet open mind, I questioned everything I knew about health. The more I questioned, the more mistakes I identified.

The so-called credible sources did not reflect reality anymore. So many things were contrived. Or at least they did not reflect or describe my existence. I believe we all create our reality leveraging universal truth aligning with our subjective existence.

I found euphoria again when I resolved my physical issues such as reducing chronic stress and chronic inflammation, gaining insulin sensitivity by improving my metabolic syndrome, balancing my hormones, and maintaining my ideal weight.

The first time I felt euphoria corresponded with 1.5 nmol ketones in my bloodstream, surprisingly, and the pee stick got fully purple in deep ketosis after refraining from food for several days.

Ketones, especially β-Hydroxybutyrate, reset my brain circuitry and helped me find euphoria again, which remained hidden in the dark side of my body dormant for many years.

Reuniting this precious natural phenomenon has added new meanings to my life and gave me a charming dimension to my physical and mental health. In addition, I redefined my spirituality using euphoria through my stoic practices.

I met many people from various cultures, philosophies, and religions who showed the positive symptoms of natural euphoria. While some cultures express euphoria in subtle tones, some depict it in more vocal styles.

When I feel euphoric, I don’t scream and laugh like crazy. Instead, I feel deep inner calm giving a smile, pleasant laughter, and intense joy even when undertaking the most mundane chores such as washing the dishes, feeding animals, and weeding grass in my garden. For example, feeling the warm water and soap in my hands while washing and awareness of every breath during the process can connect me meaningfully with life.

Using my euphoric feelings, I wire every neuron and dendrites to create better meanings and tap into my spirituality.

Conclusions

I define euphoria as the inner joy of just being, accepting life “as is” by staying in the reality zone despite the noise, disruption, bad memories, and anxious thoughts.

So my point is that it is possible to rewire our brain to experience euphoria by staying physically healthy, mindful living despite the noise, and intentional spiritual connections to everything around us.

When I re-wired my brain using euphoric feelings, more serendipitous encounters entered my life. While I still acknowledge negative emotions for mental health, this resetting of my brain and body brings more positive emotions such as joy, serenity, gratitude, hope, excitement, and amusement. I ended up being a chronic optimist naturally.

From my experience, euphoria is in our DNA and every cell at the quantum level. It is up to us to recognize it and leverage its power to have a joyful life. I will write more about various facets of euphoria, posting them to Euphoria.

I leave you with the beautiful voice of gorgeous Loreen from Sweden, whose performance won the Eurovision contest in 2012. This video has gotten over 47 million views since then. This video represents an artistic representation of euphoria. I hope you enjoy it.

Here are the lyrics of this beautiful song.

“We are here, we’re all alone in our own universe We are free, where everything’s allowed and love comes first Forever and ever together, we sail into infinity We’re higher and higher and higher, we’re reaching for divinity”

Thank you for reading my research, observations, and perspectives on euphoria, which is a beautiful altered state of mind.

I wish you a happy, joyful, and long life.

If you are a new reader and find this article valuable, you might check my holistic health and well-being stories reflecting on my reviews, observations, and decades of sensible experiments.

Sample Health Improvement Articles for New Readers

I write about various hormones and neurotransmitters such as dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, GABA, acetylcholine, norepinephrine, adrenaline, glutamate, and histamine.

One of my goals as a writer is to raise awareness about the causes and risk factors of prevalent diseases that can lead to suffering and death for a large portion of the population.

To raise awareness about health issues, I have written several articles that present my holistic health findings from research, personal observations, and unique experiences. Below are links to these articles for easy access.

Metabolic Syndrome, Type II Diabetes, Fatty Liver Disease, Heart Disease, Strokes, Obesity, Liver Cancer, Autoimmune Disorders, Homocysteine, Lungs Health, Pancreas Health, Kidneys Health, NCDs, Infectious Diseases, Brain Health, Dementia, Depression, Brain Atrophy, Neonatal Disorders, Skin Health, Dental Health, Bone Health, Leaky Gut, Leaky Brain, Brain Fog, Chronic Inflammation, Insulin Resistance, Elevated Cortisol, Leptin Resistance, Anabolic Resistance, Cholesterol, High Triglycerides, Metabolic Disorders, Gastrointestinal Disorders, and Major Diseases.

I also wrote about valuable nutrients. Here are the links for easy access:

Lutein/Zeaxanthin, Phosphatidylserine, Boron, Urolithin, taurine, citrulline malate, biotin, lithium orotate, alpha-lipoic acid, n-acetyl-cysteine, acetyl-l-carnitine, CoQ10, PQQ, NADH, TMG, creatine, choline, digestive enzymes, magnesium, zinc, hydrolyzed collagen, nootropics, pure nicotine, activated charcoal, Vitamin B12, Vitamin B1, Vitamin D, Vitamin K2, Omega-3 Fatty Acids, N-Acetyl L-Tyrosine, and other nutrients to improve metabolism and mental health.

Disclaimer: Please note that my posts do not include professional or health advice. I document my reviews, observations, experience, and perspectives only to provide information and create awareness.

I publish my lifestyle, health, and well-being stories on EUPHORIA. My focus is on metabolic, cellular, mitochondrial, and mental health. Here is my collection of Insightful Life Lessons from Personal Stories.

If you enjoy writing and storytelling, you can join Medium, NewsBreak, and Vocal as a creator to find your voice, reach out to a broad audience, and monetize your content.

You may also check my blog posts about my articles and articles of other writers contributing to my publications on Medium. I share them on my website digitalmehmet.com. Here is my professional bio. You can contact me via weblink.

As a writer, blogger, content developer, and reader, you might join Medium, Vocal Media, NewsBreak, Medium Writing Superstars, Writing Paychecks, WordPress, and Thinkers360 with my referral links. These affiliate links will not cost you extra to join the services.

You might join my six publications on Medium as a writer by sending a request via this link. 18K+ writers contribute to my publications. You might find more information about my professional background.

If you enjoy reading, you may join Medium with my referral link for limitless access to my stories and other writers.