With Veterans Day and Thanksgiving just around the corner, most of us are saving our expressions of gratitude for the holidays. But according to scientists, being thankful and having gratitude year-round can be useful for your mental health and well-being, ultimately boosting your chances of success.
In positive psychology research, gratitude is often defined as the appreciation of things that are valuable or meaningful to you, according to Harvard Medical School.
Taking the time to be thankful and appreciative of things you have received makes you have more positive emotions and relish the good experiences. It also improves your health, helps you deal with adversity, and builds strong relationships, which are all crucial traits both in and out of school or work.
There have been numerous studies that back up these claims. A 2012 study examined the effects of Thanksgiving on well-being over three weeks with a sample of 172 undergraduate students. Research participants reported higher levels of positive emotions on the Thanksgiving holiday than on other days of the study.
What happens in our brains when we regularly express gratitude? According to the Mindfulness Awareness Research Center at UCLA, regularly expressing gratitude (the quality of being thankful and readiness to show appreciation) literally changes the molecular structure of the brain, keeps the gray matter functioning, and makes us healthier and happier.
In 2008, scientists used fMRI to study gratitude. In the study, the researchers measured the brain activity of participants experiencing different emotions. They found that gratitude causes synchronized activation in multiple brain regions, and lights up parts of the brain's reward pathways and the hypothalamus. In short, just like Prozac, gratitude can boost neurotransmitter serotonin and activate the brain stem to produce dopamine.
Gratitude makes you healthier according to yet another study. In 2009, researchers from the National Institute of Health (NIH) found that subjects who showed more gratitude overall had higher levels of activity in the hypothalamus. This higher level of activity is essential because the hypothalamus controls a vast array of crucial bodily functions, including eating, drinking, and sleeping. It also has a significant influence on your metabolism and stress levels. From this evidence on brain activity, it starts to become clear how improvements in gratitude could have such wide-ranging effects, from increased exercise and improved sleep to decreased depression and fewer aches and pains.
With all the negativity in our nation's current state, from mental health issues to political turmoil, I feel it is vital that we model more gratitude and kindness with one another. Our children are feeling the effects of so many stressors that it is imperative that we, as their mentors, model such behavior to lessen the impact life has on them. I want to encourage all of us to take a moment to be thankful, and to extend that gratitude to others. Thankfulness will not only enhance our lives and well being but will boost that of the ones around us.
I would also like to take this opportunity to thank every Veteran that has served or is still serving our country. Your sacrifices should never go unnoticed.