“Gratitude drives happiness. Happiness boosts productivity. Productivity reveals mastery. And mastery inspires the world.” - Robin Sharma
Seasonal Affective Disorder. Stress. Anxiety. Depression. Ugh. Be gone. It may be easier than we realize to rid ourselves of this negativity. Being grateful prevents crappy feelings by actively shifting our focus to the positive aspects of our life, essentially "reframing" our perspective away from potential negativity, which can lead to a more optimistic outlook and reduce the intensity of negative emotions like stress, anxiety, and depression. Simply put, when you are consciously thankful for what you have, you are less likely to dwell on what you lack. This isn't just an airy-fairy belief, however. It's science.
The word gratitude is derived from the Latin word gratia, which means grace, graciousness, or gratefulness. In some ways, gratitude encompasses all of these meanings. Gratitude is a thankful appreciation for what we receive, whether tangible or intangible.
Depression has a psychological and a neurochemical base – both of which can be combatted by gratitude. By displacing our attention from problems to solutions, gratitude practices "light up" the serotonin, dopamine, and oxytocin – neurotransmitters that make us feel good (Burton, 2020). With the surge of these chemicals in the brain, apathy gets curbed, and we revive the motivation that depression had sucked away. Dr. Rollin McCraty, Research Director at HeartMath Institute, and his colleagues in one of their studies on gratitude and appreciation, found that participants who felt grateful showed a marked reduction in the level of cortisol, the stress hormone.
A study conducted on people seeking mental health guidance revealed that participants of the group who wrote letters of gratitude, in addition to their regular counseling sessions, felt better and recovered sooner (Wong et al., 2018). The other group in the study that were instructed to journal their negative experiences, instead of writing gratitude letters, reported feelings of anxiety and depression.
As a first resort to depression, wouldn't you rather try keeping a gratitude journal or writing heartfelt thank-you notes instead of popping a pharmaceutical drug? It certainly makes sense at least to try this approach first.
Try writing every night in a special notebook FIVE THINGS for which you are grateful. They don't have to be earth-shatteringly important. 1. The nice man on the subway who gave me his seat. 2. My dog's vet is so competent and trustworthy. 3. The delicious soup I had for lunch. 4. My landlord fixed the dripping faucet today like he said he would. 5. I have heat and indoor plumbing, unlike half of the world's population.
After a month or so of daily entries, see how you feel. I tried this years ago, and I can vouch that it's hard to feel lack when you're forcing yourself to acknowledge all the good that you have in your life.
Dr. Robert Emmons of UC Davis, in his studies on the profound effects of gratitude on mental health reports that:
Gratitude practices reduce cardiac diseases, inflammations, and neurodegeneration significantly
Daily journaling and gratitude jars can help individuals fighting with depression, anxiety, and burnout
Writing gratitude letters brings hope and evokes positivity in suicidal patients and those fighting terminal diseases
Gratitude improves the sleep-wake cycle and enhances mood. It helps people with insomnia, substance abuse, and eating disorders.
Remember: gratitude is a skill, nor an inherent personality trait. We are not born grateful, but we can practice in order to become more grateful!
Notes:
Burton, L. R. (2020). The Neuroscience and positive impact of gratitude in the workplace. American Association for Physician Leadership. Retrieved from https://www.physicianleaders.org/news/the-neuroscience-and-positive-impact-of-gratitude-in-the-workplace
Emmons, R. A., & McNamara, P. (2006). Sacred emotions and affective neuroscience: Gratitude, costly signaling, and the brain. In P. McNamara (Ed.), Where God and science meet: How brain and evolutionary studies alter our understanding of religion (pp. 11-30). Westport, CT: Praeger.
McCraty, R., & Childre, D. (2004). The grateful heart: The psychophysiology of appreciation. In R. A. Emmons & M. E. McCullough (Eds.), Series in affective science. The psychology of gratitude (pp. 230–255). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Wong, Y. J., Owen, J., Gabana, N. T., Brown, J. W., McInnis, S., Toth, P., & Gilman, L. (2018). Does gratitude writing improve the mental health of psychotherapy clients? Evidence from a randomized controlled trial. Psychotherapy Research, 28(2), 192–202. https://doi.org/10.1080/10503307.2016.1169332
How Gratitude Affects Our Brain Chemistry
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