Gratitude: ’Tis a gift to be thankful

Practicing gratitude feeds your well-being—we have ideas for how to get started.

You’d be hard put to find someone who’s actually read the 1913 children’s novel Pollyanna, but the character’s name lives on as shorthand for someone who is relentlessly, even foolishly, optimistic.

It turns out young Pollyanna was on to something with her “glad game”—finding something to be glad about in every situation. Over the past decade, science has found that practicing gratitude has a positive influence on one’s mood, outlook, relationships, and overall happiness—all of which can buffer against depression and anxiety.

In one 2008 study, British researchers concluded that gratitude has a strong association with well-being and social functioning, and a person’s measure of gratitude can predict life satisfaction. In a subsequent study, they also found that people who score higher on gratitude measures tend to sleep better.

An analysis of Swiss adults, published in January 2013 in the journal Personality and Individual Differences, linked “dispositional gratitude” (translation: a general “attitude of gratitude”) to better physical health, in part because of better psychological health.

All to the good

Practicing gratitude also appears to play a role in promoting resilience. A study in the Journal of Research in Personality (April 2013) examined the role of gratitude and “grit” in reducing suicidal thoughts among 209 college students.

Grit was defined as having long-term interests and passions and a willingness to push past setbacks in order to progress toward goals.

Researchers from George Mason University found that those who utilized both grit and gratitude were less inclined to ruminate on troublesome situations. It appears the two work together, the researchers noted: Gratefulness helps you to appreciate and seek out the good aspects in life, while grit helps to accept and overcome frustrations.

In other words, an attitude of gratitude can help you stay focused on your goals and not let life drag you down.

“An appreciation for what you have makes it easier not to worry about what you don’t have,”says Patrick, 60. “This helps me acknowledge value to my life, and recognize the really positive aspects, which provides a calming effect…. It makes dealing with my [mental health] issues not so stressful.”

There was a time when feeling appreciative of anything seemed out of reach.

Patrick, who lives in the St. Louis area, grappled with undiagnosed depression for years before he found effective recovery tools through a Wellness Recovery Action Plan (WRAP) program. That’s where he learned about the power of gratitude.

Every day he makes a point of noting something for which he is grateful, even if it seems small and simple. Sometimes he makes an alphabet list: He comes up with something for “A” (a good apple), then “B” (a meaningful book), and down the line.

“I now understand that I have a lot to be grateful for because there is a lot of good in my life,” he explains.

Best practices

One of the most popular and powerful tools for cultivating thankfulness is to keep a gratitude journal.

Laurie has used one for five years. After being diagnosed with depression more than 20 years ago, she enlisted the standard treatments—medication and counseling. On the advice of some friends, she also began to note down what she was grateful for.

She devotes 10 to 15 minutes each morning to her journal.

“Sometimes I’ll reflect on the previous day and note the good things that happened,” says Laurie, 62, of Wisconsin. “Other times, I will just list the things for which I am grateful—my marriage, people in my life, a good cup of coffee, a joke I heard, a compliment, the sunrise.

An appreciation for what you have makes it easier not to worry about what you don’t have.

An appreciation for what you have makes it easier not to worry about what you don’t have.

“It doesn’t have to be anything big and the list doesn’t have to be long. Some days I only write two things.”

She has found the exercise makes her a more positive person overall, friendly and easier to be around. Of course, there are days when depression creeps in and she struggles with her journaling. But she has found that going through the routine itself can be healing.

“At times, I feel so dark and gloomy I can’t think of anything to write,” Laurie says. When that happens, she reads entries from previous days or months. “So often something will trigger that light-bulb feeling and remind me that things are not as bad as I think.”

A similar practice from Robert Emmons, PhD, a leading figure in “happiness research” and author of Thanks!: How Practicing Gratitude Can Make You Happier, is to write regular thank-you notes once or twice a week—whether cards, letters, texts, or emails.

(Emmons, a psychology professor at the University of California–Davis, is co-author of a landmark 2003 study that found undergraduates who kept a weekly gratitude list for 10 weeks reported fewer health complaints, exercised more regularly, and felt better about their lives than comparison groups who either listed five things that annoyed them each week or simply listed five events that had happened.)

It helps to be specific about why you are thankful. For example, “Thanks for listening to my ideas about (whatever). It’s something I care about and you helped me.”

Another exercise takes the It’s a Wonderful Life approach: consider how life would be without a certain special person in your life. (Hey, it works for Jimmy Stewart when he sees what would have happened to the people he loves if he’d never been born.)

That might not sound uplifting—and may not be the best idea when you’re feeling fragile—but this exercise helps you see how someone is a blessing, says gratitude researcher Giacomo Bono, PhD.

Or you could use visual reminders: Post pictures of loved ones or meaningful experiences in places where you can see them regularly. You could even create a gratitude wall in your home to act as a constant reminder to savor the wonderful people and moments in your life.

Thanks be

Gratitude can also be practiced within a religious context. “Thanks be to God” (or Allah or another divinity) lays a foundation for embracing what is given, rather than what is lacking.

Religious practice appears to confer powerful benefits, according to Marilyn Baetz, MD, of the University of Saskatchewan. Her research, including analysis of data from the Canadian National Population Health Survey over 14 years, has explored the role of spirituality and religion in mental health.

In a study published in April 2013 in the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, Baetz and her colleagues concluded that regular attendance at worship services was more strongly associated with psychological well-being and positive coping strategies than was “self-reported importance of spiritual values.”

So often something [in my gratitude journal] will trigger that light-bulb feeling and remind me that things are not as bad as I think.

So often something [in my gratitude journal] will trigger that light-bulb feeling and remind me that things are not as bad as I think.
That ties in to evidence that engaging in religious activities—attending services, prayer, reading religious material—tends to be a characteristic of what researchers at Emmons’ “gratitude lab” at UC–Davis call “a grateful disposition.”

They note that while religious faith enhances the ability to be grateful, faith is not a prerequisite to gratitude.

In the end, what matters is choosing a gratitude practice that fits with your preferences and style. What works for one person may not for another. Experiment with several until you find the one(s) you find most enjoyable. You will be grateful you did.

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Sidebar: Thinking About Gratitude

How does gratitude specifically help with depression and anxiety? What is going on in the brain? There appear to be three major biochemical factors linked to the experience of gratitude: dopamine and serotonin, which are linked to happiness and pleasant emotions, and oxytocin, which is associated with love and bonding.

Dopamine.

Dopamine affects parts of the brain involved in motivation, reward, and pleasure. It helps you become mindful of positive social interactions so you can understand that a special experience has occurred.

“It is involved initially in getting the signal that we have received a blessing or gift,” says gratitude researcher Giacomo Bono, PhD. “It is also associated with attention regulation so you appreciate benefits and benefactors.”

Since low dopamine is linked to both depression and anxiety, the experience of gratitude may give you a dopamine boost and help counter a tendency toward these conditions.

Serotonin.

Gratitude engages the parasympathetic nervous system, which in effect increases serotonin and produces feelings of peace and calm. Research from the Institute of HeartMath, a nonprofit institution in Palo Alto, California, also links positive feelings to a smoother, more ordered rhythm of heartbeats, which helps the cardiovascular system function more efficiently and is better for overall health.

“So when you think about something or someone you appreciate, and experience the feelings that come with these thoughts, it not only helps you feel good, but also builds up reserves so you are able to respond more effectively to stressful circumstances,” says Bono.

Oxytocin.

This hormone is a major player in physical bonding. Levels shoot up whenever you hug a loved one, engage in sex, or breast-feed. Various studies have shown that being more appreciative of a romantic partner strengthens the relationship. And oxytocin plays a role in the stronger bonds that form when partners express gratitude, according to a study that appeared online in January 2014 in the journal Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience.

This gratitude-oxytocin link contributes to a sense of community and belonging—a fundamental human need that, if not fulfilled, can undermine mental health.