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  "path": "/2026/03/17/a-1992-paper-proposed-classifying-happiness-as-a-psychiatric-disorder.html",
  "publishedAt": "2026-03-17T18:57:23.000Z",
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  "tags": [
    "Post",
    "happiness",
    "humor",
    "mental health",
    "psychiatry",
    "psychology",
    "Richard Bentall",
    "Science",
    "Read the rest",
    "A 1992 paper proposed classifying happiness as a psychiatric disorder",
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  "textContent": "\n\nIn 1992, psychologist Richard P. Bentall of Liverpool University published a paper in the _Journal of Medical Ethics_ proposing that happiness be reclassified as a psychiatric disorder. He suggested the name \"major affective disorder, pleasant type.\"\n\nHis argument: happiness is statistically abnormal — most people, at any given time, aren't particularly happy. — Read the rest \n\nThe post A 1992 paper proposed classifying happiness as a psychiatric disorder appeared first on Boing Boing.",
  "title": "A 1992 paper proposed classifying happiness as a psychiatric disorder"
}