Two decades ago, a landmark study led by renowned American psychologist Dr. Robert A. Emmons looked at how gratitude benefits people and found it can improve mental health.
To date, numerous studies have found that being grateful, being thankful for the good things in life, and expressing gratitude to others, has a positive impact on what you think and feel, according to the Live Well news site.
Gratitude can help you heal and change your life in a positive way.
Dr. Emmons says gratitude heals, energizes, and changes lives in a positive way.
Gratitude is the emotion that arises when you realize that you have good things in life. But that feeling is only half the battle, notes Dr. Philip Watkins, a psychology professor at Eastern Washington University. Expressing gratitude, he says, is just as important to reaping the real benefits.
Several studies have asked participants to write thank you letters or list positive things in their lives, then measured the impact of these actions.
Results showed that engaging in such acts of gratitude benefited mental health, reducing symptoms of depression and anxiety, increasing self-esteem, and improving satisfaction with daily life, according to Live Well.
Gratitude also helps lower blood pressure and makes you happy.
And gratitude not only improves the happiness of the giver and receiver, but it can also be good for those who witness it. Witnessing gratitude in action between two people can make you feel warmer and more alive.
What impressed me were the objective, biologically verifiable results, says Dr. Emmons. For example, research shows that gratitude also lowers blood pressure and exhibits higher heart rate variability — a sign of happiness.
Dr. Sara Algoe, an American professor of social psychology, says that gratitude is “the gift that keeps on giving,” continuing to provide benefits over the long term.
To make gratitude a lasting habit, try linking your gratitude practice to an ingrained habit, such as thinking about things you're grateful for in the morning.
Dr. Gretchen Schmelzer, a psychologist in Philadelphia (USA), advises to be grateful for what is possible, not to let yourself focus on what is impossible.
Gratitude allows us to look at what we have and feel enough, adds Dr. Schmelzer.
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