We explain what euphoria is, when it is healthy and when it can be a problem. Also, differences with dysphoria and with joy.
What is euphoria?
Euphoria is a mental and emotional state of overwhelmed joy, in which you experience elation, happiness, excitement and joy with an unusual intensity. This word comes from the Greek word euphoria, which in ancient times designated the ability of an individual to bear a load or weight with vigor and force.
Nowadays, psychiatrists and psychologists classify euphoria as an affect, and recognize different possible causes, from personal situations that produce great satisfaction, to orgasm or even the use of different substances and narcotics.
Commonly, euphoria is transitory, and does not usually induce individuals to act in radically different ways than how they normally behave. However, there are cases in which this sensation is a symptom of mental disorders and mood disorders, when it occurs in an unmotivated way or over a long period of time.
Depending, then, on its duration and its motivations, euphoria can be understood as a rapture of happiness, or as an altered state of consciousness, in which individuals can put themselves in risk themselves, or others (mania or hypomania).
A person who experiences this sensation is known as euphoric or euphoric.
Euphoria and dysphoria
If euphoria is an intense and continuous feeling of joy and well-being, dysphoria can be described as the exact opposite. In other words, dysphoria is a state of generalized and constant malaise, which may well encompass sadness, anxiety, the irritability or restlessness, or some other unpleasant sensations.
Dysphoria is usually experienced due to various daily events, such as the loss of a loved one or other situations of grief or bitterness. In those cases, it is a momentary disorder of the emotions.
But, like euphoria, if it becomes a permanent and above all unmotivated condition, it can be a symptom of some type of psychic ailment such as personality disorders. It is considered, in these cases, as a symptom of bigger problems, such as bipolar personality disorder or even hypoglycemia.
Euphoria and joy
The boundaries between euphoria and joy are not always easy to locate, nor are they universal in their appreciation. This means that for some people the joy is more frequent and continuous, while for others it is more acute and eventual: everything depends on the internal and external conditions of existence of the person, and that is why it is not possible to quickly differentiate the euphoria (that is, the excessive joy) of ordinary jubilation.
In any case, medical criteria interpret the loss of affective contact with the person as symptoms of euphoria. reality, that is, the appearance of unmotivated peaks of joy and excitement, persistent and above all capable of leading people to undertake more daring or risky actions than they normally would.