I spent my twenties chasing achievements. Promotions, certifications, side projects, followers. Every hit of success felt amazing — for about 48 hours. Then I needed the next one. I was on a dopamine treadmill, and I didn’t even know it.
Then I read Kabasawa Shion’s Three Happinesses, and something clicked.
Who Is Kabasawa Shion?
Kabasawa is a Japanese psychiatrist who has sold over 3 million copies of his books. His most influential idea is deceptively simple: there are three types of brain happiness, and they must be built in order [1].
The Three Happiness Layers
Layer 1: Serotonin Happiness (Foundation)
Physical wellbeing, calm, present-moment contentment. Feeling okay without needing a reason to feel okay.
How to activate:
- Morning sunlight (15 min) — triggers serotonin synthesis via retinal pathways [2]
- Rhythmic exercise (walking, running, swimming)
- Adequate sleep (7-9 hours)
- No screens for first 30 minutes after waking
Layer 2: Oxytocin Happiness (Connection)
Love, belonging, trust. The warmth you feel with close friends, family, or a pet. Stable and sustainable.
How to activate:
- Physical touch (hugs, handshakes) — triggers oxytocin release [3]
- Deep conversation (not small talk)
- Acts of kindness — giving produces more oxytocin than receiving [3]
- Time with animals
Layer 3: Dopamine Happiness (Achievement)
Success, goals met, money, recognition, social media likes. Powerful but inherently unstable — it fades quickly and requires escalating doses.
The warning: Dopamine happiness without serotonin and oxytocin foundations leads to addiction, burnout, and depression. You can “succeed” your way into misery.
Why the Order Matters
Kabasawa’s key insight: modern society pushes us to chase Layer 3 (dopamine) while neglecting Layers 1 and 2. We optimize for productivity, income, and status while skipping sleep, eating badly, and letting friendships decay.
This is neurologically backwards. Serotonin and oxytocin create a stable emotional baseline. Dopamine is meant to sit on top of that baseline, not replace it.
Without the foundation, dopamine happiness becomes:
- Tolerance: You need bigger wins to feel the same high
- Withdrawal: Between achievements, you feel empty
- Addiction: You can’t stop chasing, even when it hurts you
Sound familiar? It should. Berridge and Robinson’s landmark 1998 neuroscience paper distinguished between “wanting” (dopamine) and “liking” (opioid/serotonin systems) — showing that dopamine drives pursuit, not satisfaction [4]. You can be driven to chase something you don’t even enjoy anymore.
The 30:70 Output Rule
Kabasawa’s other major framework: spend 70% of learning time on output (writing, teaching, creating) and 30% on input (reading, watching, listening) [1]. Most people do the reverse.
This aligns directly with retrieval practice research — testing yourself on material produces dramatically better retention than re-reading it [5].
How I Restructured My Days
Before Kabasawa: wake up → check phone → emails → work → collapse.
After: wake up → sunlight walk (serotonin) → breakfast with family (oxytocin) → deep work (dopamine on a stable base).
The productivity didn’t decrease. The anxiety did.
References
[1] Kabasawa S. Three Happinesses Found by a Psychiatrist (3つの幸福). Asuka Publishing, 2021.
[2] Czeisler CA, et al. “Bright light resets the human circadian pacemaker.” Science, 1989. PMID: 3726555
[3] Zak PJ, et al. “Oxytocin increases generosity in humans.” PLoS ONE, 2007. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0001128
[4] Berridge KC, Robinson TE. “What is the role of dopamine in reward?” Brain Research Reviews, 28(3), 309-369, 1998.
[5] Roediger HL, Karpicke JD. “Test-enhanced learning.” Psychological Science, 17(3), 249-255, 2006.