Counting Your
Blessings: How Gratitude Improves Your Health
By
Bruce Campbell
Gratitude
has long been extolled by religion and in recent years, has drawn
attention through books such as The
Simple Abundance Journal of Gratitude. Now, thanks to new research,
there is scientific evidence that gratitude produces health benefits.
The
research is summarized in Robert Emmons’ new book Thanks!:
How the New Science of Gratitude Can Make You Happier (Houghton
Mifflin, 2007). Emmons and his colleagues at the University of
California at Davis are among the pioneers in research on gratitude,
part of a larger movement called positive psychology. Positive psychology,
instead of focusing on illness and emotional problems, studies
health-promoting behavior and the pleasurable
parts of life.
Emmons’
book reports on several studies. In the first, he and his colleagues
divided participants into three groups, each of which made weekly
entries in a journal. One group wrote five things they were grateful
for. Another group described five daily hassles and a control group
listed five events that had affected them in some way. Those in the
gratitude group felt better about their lives overall, were more
optimistic about the future, and reported fewer health problems than the
other participants. Results from a second study suggested that daily
writing led to a greater increase in gratitude than weekly practice.
A
third study reproduced the results among a group of people suffering
from various neuromuscular diseases, including post-polio syndrome,
which has symptoms similar to those in CFS. People using daily
gratitude journals reported more satisfaction with their lives and were more
optimistic about the future than the control group. Interestingly, the
gratitude group also reported getting more sleep, spending less time
awake before falling asleep and feeling more refreshed in the morning.
In
a related study, researchers at the University of Connecticut found that
gratitude can have a protective effect against heart attacks. Studying
people who had experienced one heart attack, the researchers found that
those patients who saw benefits and gains from their heart attack, such
as becoming more appreciative of life, experienced a lower risk of
having another heart attack.
The
research on gratitude challenges the idea of a “set point” for
happiness, a belief that, just as our body has a set point for weight,
each person may have a genetically-determined level of happiness. The
set point concept is supported by research that shows that people return
to a characteristic level of happiness a short time after both unusually
good and unusually bad events. But the research on gratitude suggests
that people can move their set point upward to some degree, enough to
have a measurable effect on both their outlook and their health.
Summarizing
the findings from studies to date, Emmons says that those who practice
grateful thinking “reap emotional, physical and interpersonal
benefits.” People who regularly keep a gratitude journal report fewer
illness symptoms, feel better about their lives as a whole, and are more
optimistic about the future. Emmons conclusion is that gratitude is a
choice, one possible response to our life experiences.
Getting Started
If
you would like to increase the level of gratitude in your life, here are
five suggestions for getting started.
1) Keep a Daily Gratitude Journal
This
is probably the most effective strategy for increasing your level of
gratitude. Set aside time daily to record several things that you are
grateful for. (Typically, people list three to five.) You can write when
you get up or at the end of the day. Pick a time that you will
consistently have available. You can use a book like the Journal
of Gratitude or write on loose-leaf paper or a notebook. The
important thing is to establish the daily practice of paying attention
to gratitude-inspiring events and to write them down. In Emmons' words,
the act of writing
“allows you to see the meaning of events going on around you and
create meaning in your own life.” For an example of the use of a
gratitude journal, see Joan Buchman’s article “The
Healing Power of Gratitude.”
2) Use Visual Reminders
Two
obstacles to being grateful are forgetfulness and lack of awareness. You
can counter them by giving yourself visual cues that trigger thoughts of
gratitude. Emmons says he puts Post-It notes listing his blessings in
many places, including on his refrigerator, mirrors and the steering
wheel of his car. Another strategy is to set a pager, computer or PDA to
signal you at random times during the day and to use the signal to pause
and count blessings.
3) Have a Gratitude Partner
Social
support encourages healthy behaviors, because we often lack the
discipline to do things on our own. Just as you may be more likely to
exercise if you have an exercise partner or participate in a class, you
may be able to maintain the discipline of gratitude more easily if you
have a partner with whom to share gratitude lists and to discuss the
effects of gratitude in your life. Emmons says, “If we hang out with
ungrateful people, we will ‘catch’ one set of emotions; if we choose
to associate with more grateful individuals, the influence will be in
another direction. Find a grateful person and spend more time with him
or her.”
4) Make a Public Commitment
We
feel accountable when we make commitments to others. In our self-help
course, we have people set weekly goals for themselves. The fact that
the goal is made publicly to a group, makes it more likely that people
will follow through. For a discussion of how to achieve short-term
goals, see the Chapter 6 in our course textbook: “Goals
and Targets.”
5) Change Your Self-Talk
We
all carry on an inner dialogue with ourselves that is often called
“self-talk.” When this inner conversation is negative, our mood is
usually low. Research has shown that we can change our mood by changing
the tone of the things we say to ourselves. For an introduction to this
approach, called cognitive therapy, and a description of a three-step process to change
your self-talk, see the article “Taming
Stressful Thoughts.”
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