Page 8 - JCBP-2-3

Journal of Clinical and
Basic Psychosomatics Eudaimonia

rated assessments of suffering. Once symptom relief is The difference between hedonic and eudaimonic well-
achieved, or even in cases where only partial remission being can be explained through everyday dilemmas. For
is possible, the next goal is to prevent deterioration, example, hedonic well-being may suggest indulging in
relapse, and recurrence. Given that complete remission eating and drinking alcohol for momentary pleasure.
and long-term stability may not always be feasible, Conversely, eudaimonic well-being suggests eating and
patients must learn to accept irreversibility and drinking alcohol considering the implications for one’s
develop coping strategies, as outlined in mindfulness health and legal responsibilities, such as maintaining a
therapy, acceptance and commitment therapy, and valid driver’s license. Another example is when hedonic
dialectical behavior therapy. 13-15 Furthermore, patients well-being suggests staying in bed at night and ignoring
require resilience and hardiness to withstand given your crying baby, whereas eudaimonic well-being entails
adversities. 16,17 Next, addressing capacity limitations getting up to attend to the crying baby, despite feeling
and impairment typically associated with long-term tired, stressed, and even fed up. In this scenario, parents
illness is essential, including enhancing communication may experience hedonic discomfort on one side but, at the
skills, endurance during a workday, and adaptability to same time, derive eudaimonic satisfaction from meeting
changing demands, as described in the International the needs of their baby, prioritizing their responsibilities
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Classification of Functioning Disability and Health. over immediate personal desires. Eudaimonia is often the
In cases where persistent capacity limitations result in opposite of pleasure and wellness if not even undermining
participation restrictions, environmental demands can hedonia. Nevertheless, it remains important for the mastery
be adapted to accommodate the patients’ capacities, of life. Eudaimonia is not only a goal and orientation in life
such as changing work structures, providing sheltered but also a behavior and a way of managing life.
employment, and offering support at home, in the sense There is also neuroscientific data that may aid in
of context modification and support of participation. 19,20 understanding eudaimonia. Lewis et al., reported an
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Even when symptoms of illness and suffering persist, association of eudaimonia subscales of the Ryff scale,
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a further treatment goal is to induce positive mood which measure personal growth, positive relations, and
(hedonic and euthymic well-being). 11,21,22
purpose in life, with the grey matter volume of the right
3. Eudaimonia and mastery of life insular cortex. In a review of further neurobiological
findings, Berridge and Kringelbach discussed subcortical
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Apart from conventional hedonic treatment targets, hedonic hotspots in the nucleus accumbens, ventral
the concept of “eudaimonia” is an additional topic for pallidum, and brainstem, as well as regions for cognitive
psychotherapy. Hedonism and personal wellness are not hedonic coding in the mid-anterior and mid-lateral zone
most important in life. Philosophers such as Democritus, of the orbitofrontal region. They observed interactions
Plato, and Aristotle described that solely pursuing hedonic between hedonic brain circuits and circuits that assess
wellbeing could be considered selfish, emphasizing instead meaningful relationships of self to social others. Of
the importance of societal responsibilities and moral particular interest in this regard is the “default network,”
virtues. Beyond individual happiness, there is mastery including the anterior cingulate and orbitofrontal cortices,
1,2
of life, coping with and enduring irrevocable hardships, dorsolateral prefrontal, and other parietal and temporal
considering the needs and rights of other persons, and cortex networks, which encode evaluations of self and life
striving for higher goods. This concept can even entail meaning, potentially mediating might mediate eudaimonic
embracing hardship and suffering. appraisals. The difference between hedonia and eudaimonia
Various definitions, connotations, and misunderstandings as two distinguishable forms of well-being has also been
surround the concept of eudaimonia. 1-10,23-27 Some authors explored in genetic research. Baselmans and Bartels
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translate it into “happiness,” which can be misconstrued as discussed two genome-wide significant independent loci
mere momentary pleasure. A related term, “euthymia,” also for eudaimonic well-being and six independent loci for
denotes emotional well-being, although it, at least in part, hedonic well-being. Joint analyses revealed a high genetic
also includes certain aspects of eudaimonia. The “euthymia correlation (rg = 0.78) between eudaimonic and hedonic
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scale” includes items such as “I generally feel calm and well-being, indicating substantial shared genetic etiology,
relaxed,” “I generally feel active and vigorous,” along with divergent (environmental) factors contributing to
with statements such as “I am able to adapt to changing their phenotypic differences. Loci regulating expression
situations” and “I try to be consistent in my attitudes and demonstrated significant enrichment in the brain
behaviors.” This illustrates that the scale covers a mixture of cortex, brain cerebellum, frontal cortex, and cerebellar
hedonic well-being, resilience, self-efficacy, and overarching hemisphere for eudaimonic well-being. In summary,
goal-oriented behavior. these neurobiological findings suggest that eudaimonia is

Volume 2 Issue 3 (2024) 2 doi: 10.36922/jcbp.2988