A spike for happiness

Fortunately, we have not introduced Gross National Happiness as maximand.

Psychologists investigating the well-being of patients with an acquired brain injury (ABI) have documented a curious phenomenon, whereby the more serious a person's brain injury, the higher their self-reported life-satisfaction.
...
'Sustaining a head injury does not always lead to a deterioration in one's quality of life,' the researchers concluded. '...[D]ata from this study serves to tell a coherent story about the way in which the quality of life of those who experience ABIs can be enhanced by the personal and social "identity work" that these injuries require them to perform. ... Nietzsche, then, was correct to observe that that which does not kill us can make us stronger.'

Ministry of Health guidelines for minor head injuries might recommend driving a spike into the wound and swirling it round a little to help encourage a happier recovery.

Don't tell Bhutan.

From BPS Research Digest, courtesy of Barking Up The Wrong Tree.