The Science of Soul: Why Joy Is Not a Luxury, But Your Birthright

In a world obsessed with hustle, titles, and to-do lists, Dr. Judith Joseph dares to say what many feel but few admit: joy is not optional. It’s not a weekend indulgence, a fleeting byproduct of achievement, or a distant dream — it is who we are. “We are built with that DNA for joy,” the board-certified psychiatrist and researcher declares. “It’s our birthright as human beings.”

In a society that rewards over-functioning and labels burnout as ambition, Dr. Joseph is leading a quiet, radical revolution. Her new book, “High Functioning: Overcome Your Hidden Depression and Reclaim Your Joy,” is a clarion call to the walking wounded — the teachers, doctors, parents, creatives, entrepreneurs, and overachievers who seem fine on the outside but are silently withering within.

This is not your average wellness advice. It’s the soul-deep truth of a woman who has lived the paradox she now studies.

“That was me in 2020,” she confesses. “I wore this mask. On the outside it looked like everything was great — I was running my lab, I had a small child, a perfect family, I was on TV. But I was struggling with anhedonia.”

High Functioning. Low Joy.

In clinical terms, anhedonia is the inability to feel pleasure. It’s the emotional flatline that often defines high-functioning depression — a quiet erosion of joy in otherwise “successful” lives. The real tragedy? Society doesn’t recognize it. You’re meeting deadlines, posting photos, and raising families. So how could you possibly be depressed?

“Depression looks different,” Joseph emphasizes. “You don’t have to cry yourself to sleep every night to be in pain. You don’t have to be sad to be drowning. Sometimes, it’s the absence of joy that reveals the depth of the wound.”

And what keeps this condition hidden? Joseph identifies two major emotional barriers:

• Anhedonia, which strips away the feeling of joy.

• Alexithymia, which blocks the expression of feelings altogether.

Together, they form an invisible prison where people continue to function while their inner world silently collapses.

The 5 V’s: A Joy Blueprint for the Broken Yet Brilliant

Joseph doesn’t just name the problem. She offers a deeply human roadmap to healing — a five-part model called the “5 V’s”, not to be rushed, but to be lived.

1. Validation

Start where you are. Name your pain. Don’t minimize it.

“If we don’t know how we feel, we’re confused. That confusion breeds anxiety,” Joseph explains. Naming is the beginning of reclaiming.

2. Venting

Speak it — but wisely.

Share your struggle, but ask for emotional consent first. “Check in,” she urges. “Say, ‘Is this a good time for me to share something heavy?’” Emotional safety matters.

3. Values

What do you live for beyond your LinkedIn?

“I used to chase accolades. But that’s not what I’ll talk about on my deathbed,” Joseph confesses. True meaning lies not in our resume, but in our relationships, beliefs, and purpose.

4. Vitals

You can’t think clearly on four hours of sleep and a diet of caffeine and stress.

Rebuilding joy means honoring the basics: food, movement, rest. They sound simple, but they’re often the first to go when we’re drowning.

5. Vision

When the present hurts and the past haunts, joy requires looking forward.

“You must plan for joy,” Joseph says. Stop romanticizing your trauma or rehearsing your regrets. Joy is not accidental. It’s cultivated.

A Joyful Life Is Not a To-Do List

Dr. Joseph’s most powerful advice might be the most countercultural of all: don’t be high-functioning about healing. Don’t turn this process into another performance metric. Joy is not a goal. It’s a state of being — and one that requires softness, not striving.

“It’s not another problem at work. It’s your life,” she says gently, but firmly.

Joy: The Original Human Language

The beauty of Joseph’s work lies not just in its science, but in its soul. Her belief that joy is encoded into our very DNA offers a powerful reframe in an anxious age.

“You don’t have to teach a child joy,” she reminds us. “We are built with it.”

That’s what makes this movement so urgent. We’re not learning something new — we’re returning to something ancient, something sacred. Joy is not a gift for the lucky few. It’s not reserved for those who win awards, buy houses, or master morning routines.

It is your inheritance. Yours to reclaim.

So ask yourself today — not just: Am I functioning?
But instead: Am I feeling? Am I truly living?

Because beneath the curated smiles and the stacked schedules, there waits a version of you who still remembers how to dance in the rain, laugh without reason, and feel alive.

And that version of you — is still in there.

She’s just waiting for you to come home.