This Morning's Johns Hopkins Medicine Health Alert had some great information on Mental Health and how our thoughts affect our feelings. So I've reposted a brief outline of the article below.
Most forms of psychotherapy are based on discussing and analyzing negative thoughts and feelings. But some experts say this approach overlooks a larger issue: how to use psychology to emphasize the positive and increase happiness, not just fix problems.
While alleviating the symptoms of mental disorders is certainly essential, proponents of positive psychology argue that the search for mental health shouldn't end there. As Martin Seligman, Ph.D., one of the leading researchers in positive psychology explains, current treatment aims to bring people from –5 to 0 (on a scale of –5 to +5); ideally, psychology should help us get from 0 to +5. In other words, the absence of mental illness is not the same thing as good mental health.
How Positive Psychology Works. Positive psychology involves more than just thinking happy thoughts. Positive psychology focuses on the strengths and virtues that help people thrive, such as courage, gratitude, compassion, resilience and creativity. While most therapists attempt to "fix what's wrong," positive psychologists also want to "build what's strong."
Therapists who practice positive psychology help individuals see their strengths and virtues and find ways to foster them. They also help people identify positive experiences and the circumstances that brought them about, as well as encourage behaviors that give life a sense of meaning and purpose.
Here are some positive psychology techniques you can try:
- Identify and use signature strengths. Write down your top five strengths and try to use them more and in new ways each day.
- Keep a gratitude journal. Often recommended by Oprah Winfrey, this positive psychology technique involves writing down each evening three good things that happened to you and noting why you think they happened. Many people focus on negative emotions or events and ignore the positive ones. Keeping a gratitude journal is a way to shift your focus to the more positive aspects of your life and to reflect on them.
- Express appreciation to other individuals. Extend your gratitude to the important people in your life.
- Perform acts of kindness. Turning your focus to improving the lives of people around you can increase your own happiness. Try to help others in ways both random (like holding the door open for someone or letting someone go in front of you in line) and planned (such as volunteering or donating blood). Posted in Depression and Anxiety on June 21, 2011
Yours in excellent health . . . and happiness,
Dr. Bruce Bell, D.C., Clinic Director of the South Coast Spine Center, American Academy of Spine Physicians
619-472-2225
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