It's the end of the Thanksgiving weekend here in the U.S. and thanks and giving are on my mind. I'll share a few ways that gratitude can increase happiness and reduce depression. These results were found in a study by Dr. Martin Seligman and colleagues Steen, Park, and Peterson. They recruited participants on-line and assigned 6 positive psychology interventions.
Three of these interventions were shown to have long-term effects on happiness and depression-- the first 2 I'll describe reduced depressive symptoms and boosted happiness for 6 months and the third showed positive changes for 1 month.
The first is using your signature strengths in new ways. Participants in this study took a strengths-finder assessment and then worked on using their strengths in a new way each day for a week. Just one week of doing this led to 6 months of mood improvements!
The second is writing down 3 things that went well and why each day for a week. Again, just one week of doing this led to 6 months of increased happiness.
And finally, conducting a gratitude visit can boost mood for a full month. The way to do this is to write and personally deliver a letter of appreciation to someone you have not yet appropriately thanked.
It's incredible how such simple things can create such big results.
With gratitude for your interest,
Larina Kase
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