Experiencing more positive emotions during the pandemic
LOCKDOWN SERIES: BY CIARA HEVERIN
Happiness can sometimes seem like a frivolous concept but the research between happiness and wellbeing is now too solid to ignore.
Happier people have more positive life outcomes; they are more likely to have happy marriages, be in jobs that they enjoy, earn more money and make better leaders, but researchers have found that happiness is vitally important for health.
Happy people have far better health outcomes than their unhappy counterparts.
Happier people live longer, are less likely to become sick, require less visits to the doctors and to A&E, they recover faster and have much better outcomes after a serious illness.
Dr. Martin Seligman, who is sometimes referred to as the ‘father of Positive Psychology’, developed a formula to enable us to create our own sustainable happiness.
He calls it the PERMA-V model: Positive Emotions, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, Accomplishment, Vitality.
Experiencing positive emotions is obviously one of the first things that comes to mind when one thinks of happiness.
Dr. Barbara Frederickson is the leading researcher on positive emotions. She has identified ten major positive emotions, listed here in the order in which we most frequently experience them:
1. Love 2. Joy 3. Gratitude 4. Contentment 5. Interest 6. Hope 7. Pride 8. Amusement 9. Inspiration 10. Awe.
An interesting study and very relevant to the times we are currently living in was undertaken by the psychologist Sheldon Cohen. Cohen’s work focuses on the roles of stress, emotions, social support systems and personality in health and wellbeing.
In his study, it was hypothesised that people who typically report experiencing negative emotions are at greater risk for disease and those who typically report positive emotions are at less risk.
He tested these hypotheses for host resistance to the common cold.
Three hundred and thirty-four healthy volunteers aged 18 to 54 years were assessed for their tendency to experience positive emotions such as happy, pleased, and relaxed; and for negative emotions such as anxious, hostile, and depressed. Subsequently, they were given nasal drops containing one of two rhinoviruses and monitored in quarantine for the development of a common cold (illness in the presence of verified infection).
The researchers found that, for both viruses, increased positive emotional style (PES) was associated with lower risk of developing a cold.
This relationship was maintained after controlling for pre-challenge virus-specific antibody, virus-type, age, sex, education, race, body mass, and season.
The results of the study showed that people who experience positive emotions have greater resistance to objectively verifiable colds.
Positive emotion was also associated with reporting fewer unfounded symptoms. People experiencing positive emotion were also sick for a much shorter period.
So science tells us, as hard as it may be at the moment, we need to have as much fun as possible.
Get a puppy, shake your body, dance, eat good food, get some exercise and laugh as much as you can.
We all know that spending time with loved ones and experiencing joy with them makes us feel good.
Taking time to do this and being present in those moments so important for our wellbeing.
During this time of uncertainty, and when we’re being asked to cut our close contacts, means that the relationship we have with our families and the people we live with are more important now than ever, so it’s vital that they are healthy, happy relationships.
Cultivate these relationships now. Even at a distance there are ways to make them more meaningful; call relatives, send a letter, go on a socially distanced walk.
And whether you’re staying at home with others or you are alone, a fast way to experience more positive emotions is taking the time to be grateful for things and list the things we are grateful for.
This increases our feeling of gratitude and positive emotion.
Dr. Fredrickson’s research concluded that the more positive emotions we experience, the more creative, resilient and capable we feel, leading us to make better decisions and judgements. And now we know, we will also be protecting our health.
Are you experimenting with any of the changes I am suggesting or do you need some help to get them off the ground? I would love to hear from you. Get in touch.
(Ciara Heverin, a native of Castlebar, is a positive psychology coach and a children's and teen yoga, meditation and mindfulness teacher. Contact her on FB Yoga for Kids with Ciara, Instagram Ciara Heverin Coaching or Email on ciaraheverin@gmail.com).