Count your Blessings: The Impact of Gratitude on Wellbeing

From birth we are taught to say thank you – thank you for the things that we have, for our health, and for our family. In the exciting field of positive psychology, recent research has linked the practice of gratitude with increased immune functioning, optimism, healthy behaviors, and general wellbeing. There is however some controversy over the extent to which simply giving thanks can impact wellbeing on a long-term basis. This week I ventured into the blogosphere to examine what bloggers are saying about appreciation. My curiosity centers on the method that bloggers employ to cultivate gratitude as well as the impact that gratefulness has had on their lives. The first blog I came upon is entitled Brett Boettge’s Accountability which details Mr. Boettge’s daily actions in his pursuit of personal excellence. In his post “November…The Month of Gratitude,” he discusses the dramatic impact the practice of gratitude has had on his wellbeing. His entry focuses on the process of combating the impulse to dwell on negative life events and emotions. Leo Babauta, the author of Zenhabits, frequently offers his advice in achieving personal goals, staying organized, and being productive. His post, “8 Tremendously Important Ways that Gratitude can Change your Life,” was less of a testimonial than Mr. Boettege’s entry and instead provided a comprehensive list of ways to incorporate appreciation into one’s life.
I too have been taking this month to reflect upon the things that I am grateful for in my life. I have come to believe that simply maintaining a positive mindset, especially in the face of adversity, can work immediate wonders on one’s wellbeing. In fact, stress and negative emotions are associated with poor physical outcomes such as heart disease and poor immune function. In working with clients that are struggling with a great deal o adversity, I have become increasingly interested in the positive psychology movement and recently read a study by Robert Emmons and Michael McCullough concerning the concept of gratitude journals. Their research examines the long term effects of gratitude on health and wellbeing. In their experimental study, they found that participants who kept a daily “gratitude journal (see above left)” engaged in healthier behaviors and felt more optimistic than those who recorded daily hassles or even neutral events. I like this idea for my clients, however I fear that asking a client to keep track of what they are grateful for amidst extreme hardship can be a somewhat awkward homework assignment. Part of me says "who wants to think about rainbows and butterflies when the world seems to be one dark storm after another?" However, the other half of me thinks back to the books I read as an undergraduate and graduate student: Yalom's The Gift of Therapy, Viktor Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning, Martin Seligman's Authentic Happiness... While all of these authors use slightly different terms, the idea remains the same: assigning meaning to a struggle in some way (by being thankful for what you do have, etc.) is a survival skill that has been shown in even the most adverse of circumstances to enhance resiliency.