Üsküdar University Founding Rector, Psychiatrist Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan evaluated the effects of the concept of well-being on psychological well-being.
Psychiatrist Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan, who states that doing good has very important contributions to psychological well-being, emphasizes that people should make doing good a mental goal. Stating that doing good has an antidepressant effect, Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan points out that doing good is also good for the person.
Üsküdar University Founding Rector, Psychiatrist Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan evaluated the effects of the concept of goodness on psychological well-being.
Doing good makes you happy
Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan noted that the concept of goodness is a newly discovered concept by psychology professionals and experts dealing with mental health and said, "This concept was forgotten, abandoned. It has been rediscovered. There are many studies on kindness. In fact, it was seen that doing good is good for people. How is it good? Kindness makes not only the other person happy, but also the person himself/herself. It has a reducing effect on depression and anxiety. A person's self-esteem also increases when they do good deeds. Studies have shown that when a person helps someone else, a happiness hormone is secreted in the brain, which is caused by empathy."
Doing good has an antidepressant effect
Stating that there is no increase in the level of psychological welfare and spiritual welfare against the increasing depression in the world, Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan said, "On the contrary, it is getting worse. Researches conducted to determine the causes of the problem, especially against increasing cases of depression, have revealed the following result: In order for people to be happy, others need to be happy too. Doing good has an antidepressant effect. We can easily say this. They define this age as the age of insecurity. Insecurity has increased to such an extent that loneliness has increased. When they go home, they are afraid to turn their backs on their spouse, anxiety such as whether they can harm me, whether I will see evil from my children makes life unlivable. As a solution to this, when you do a good deed, you say to the other party, 'I am your friend', 'No harm will come to you from me', 'Forgive me if you have negative thoughts about me'. You cannot say these things directly. It will be a random, silent favor. Speaking good things behind his back, when it reaches the person's ears, he will say, 'Look, I didn't think well of him, but he was saying good things about me. What a bad person I was, how could I have done this? Therefore, when a person is generous with goodness, it returns to him as a gain without him realizing it," he said.
When one person does good, everyone wins
Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan said, "In the capital system, doing good increases the cost of operation." Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan said, "Right now there is a modernism that says don't help, don't give alms, don't do good. This is the teaching of the capital system. This teaching has had wrong results because when someone does a good deed, everyone actually wins. That person loses, it looks like they are giving something, but they are not. Mother Teresa has a famous saying. They ask her, "How can the world be livable?" and she answers, "By doing good one by one". She summarized it so well. This is a universal truth. He has made it a culture to do good one-to-one."
Pointing out that there is a global disease of narcissism, Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan said, "Narcissism is a form of selfishness that has become a personality. Modernism has given us the pursuit of pleasure as ego. The second one says 'You are important, family is not important'. 'You are important, society is not important'. It confuses individualism with selfishness. This is the worst gift of the twentieth century to humanity."
Let's do good unconditionally, randomly and silently
Stating that doing good is a culture in Anatolia, Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan said, "But this culture is atrophying. Now that the tree has started to dry up, we need to revive it. When doing good, let's do good unconditionally, randomly and silently. Without expecting any benefit, not to show off. We should not even expect applause and praise. These favors are much more effective. It is better than not doing any good at all, than always saying me me me me," he said.
We should raise young people who think about social good
Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan also stated that we need to raise young people and children who think not only about themselves but also about the social good, and said, "What we need now is a young generation that thinks, 'What can I do for the benefit and happiness of people? Let's not raise a young generation that always dreams for itself. Let them dream for the homeland, let them dream for the future, let them dream to do something for others. Let people dream about what kind of mark they will leave when they reach the end of their lives. In such situations, all of these are doing good. Intention is important for this."
Doing good should be a mental goal
Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan stated that people should make doing good a mental goal and said, "People should think, 'I will say yes to good deeds and no to evil deeds in my life' and make this a mental goal. Our conclusion is that fate wants us to be a goodness machine. Do good and throw it into the sea. The Creator knows and sees. The good deed comes in front of the person in some way. It is not wasted. So these are also for the benefit of the person. There are many things in a person's life, but goodness adds meaning to life. One of my professors told me this. He had a friend who didn't believe in religious values, spiritual values at all. 'I looked at him and he was giving scholarships to one or two people. You were someone who despised spirituality, why are you doing this?" he asked. His friend said, 'When that child is happy, I am happy.' This is a social benefit. It is a social investment. This is in our dough, but the dough is about to be spoiled."
Random acts of kindness add meaning to life
Stating that a person should set out to decide which good deed to do today, Tarhan said, "Random good deeds give birth to good deeds that we cannot foresee. Therefore, it adds meaning to our lives and beautifies our relationships. It corrects wrong perceptions. There is a misconception in our culture: Especially men think, 'If I laugh, I cannot establish authority'. However, authority is possible not through sulking, but through living with principles and keeping your word. You need a horizontal relationship with your child. You need to be able to talk to him/her about good, right and wrong. Relationships that don't talk at all, that are direct and overbearing, create a feeling in children and young people that 'my parents don't love me'. For this reason, all of these are favors. Favor does not necessarily mean receiving a material gift," he said.
Stating that there is an increase in violence, suicide and divorce in society, Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan said, "All these are an alarm. As a solution, doing good as an ego ideal should be taught to young people and children and this should be embedded in society. People who think positively have a healthier body in old age. They live eight and a half years longer. Health problems are less common."
Selfishness is the biggest enemy of goodness
Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan stated that doing good, which comes from our culture, should be more widespread and said, "In our society, especially during Ramadan, you go to the grocery store. Someone's debt is paid and closed from the credit book and that person does not know who is helping them. All of these are our values that need to be revitalized. So goodness is good for people. Goodness makes people happy and gives meaning to life. It increases our self-esteem. It makes you feel good about yourself. We need to make this a philosophy of life. If this happens, there will be nothing bad in the world. I wish we could do this globally. Selfishness is the biggest enemy of goodness."
