In the face of negative events, people don't feel as bad as they themselves expected to. Dan calls this capacity to overcome adversity our psychological immune system. As soon as we start to feel bad, our mind deploys a whole host of mental defenses. The happiness we get from rationalizing a bad event is just as real as the Happiness we get from something objectively good.
Recovering from a car crash that smashed her face, listener Rebecca Kaduru stumbled across an episode of The Happiness Lab in which we interviewed wounded Iraq veteran JR Martinez. His story brought Rebecca great solace in her own painful journey to recovery.
Following our recent show talking to Rebecca, we wanted to give you a chance to hear the episode which so touched her - The Unhappy Millionaire - in which we examine the "psychological immune system" that help humans overcome even the toughest experiences.
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