Growing Older, Getting Happier
Recent research points to happiness increasing with age, with elderly people experiencing more happiness than their younger counterparts. When considering the specific challenges the geriatric population faces, which include but are not limited to, illness, dementia, relinquishment of autonomy, death of partners and loved ones, this research is surprising, to say the least. Dr. Dilip V. Jeste, a professor of psychiatry at the University of California, San Diego, suggests why
The Good Things About Being Sad
I am particularly excited about sharing this article. So often when we find ourselves sad, or in a bad mood or funk, (I am careful not to include debilitating levels of clinical depression in this category), part of the difficulty of being in these states is that we automatically reject them, and oftentimes feel even worse about ourselves for not being happy. This article by Douglas T. Kenrick Ph.D. lists the 7 findings that point to the benefits of being sad. 1. Improved mem
Simply Happy
On the Ted Radio Hour “Simply Happy”, Daniel Gilbert, a Harvard psychologist explains that we are all hard wired to be happy because our brain has the ability to synthesize happiness. He begins his interview by discussing that over the past 2 million years the human brain has nearly tripled in mass to be 3 pounds, and a major addition to the human brain is the part of the pre-frontal cortex, which has the ability to be an “experience simulator”. This means that we are able to
Greenery (or Even Photos of Trees) Can Increase Our Happiness
Interesting study written up in the New York Times found that being in nature or even looking at pictures of nature can increase our happiness! Looking at green pictures was found to help people recover from stress, however did not inoculate from experiencing future stressors. Magdalena van den Berg, who led the study at the VU University Medical Center, predicted that actually being in nature, or looking out a window would create an even more significant impact than viewing