The Benefits of Gratitude for Mental and Physical Health

Scientific research

Dr. Paul Mills of the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, has researched the relationship between mental health and heart health for decades. Positive behavior is associated with a lower risk of heart disease because it reduces stress, anxiety, and depression. All of this contributes to cardiovascular disease.

Dr. Mills conducted a study to answer the question about the relationship between the heart and gratitude. He recruited 186 men and women with heart disease and came up with a gratitude questionnaire.

What he learned is that the more grateful people are, the healthier they are. Mills also ran blood tests to measure levels of inflammation. Inflammation is closely linked to the buildup of arterial plaque and the development of heart disease, and interestingly, the most grateful individuals showed the least signs of inflammation.

Mills dug deeper in a follow-up study that involved keeping a gratitude journal. After two months, people with a history of heart disease who kept journaling had a reduced risk of heart disease overall, while the group that didn't keep a gratitude journal didn't show the same improvement. Mills isn't sure how gratitude helps the heart, but he thinks the key is to reduce stress.

These results are not surprising given previous studies that have linked negative emotional states to an increased risk of heart attack and stroke. A 2012 review of 200 studies conducted by the Harvard School of Public Health concluded that optimism and happiness already decrease the risk of cardiovascular disease.

Benefits of gratitude for the heart and body

Psychiatrist Robert A. Emmons leads a long-term research project designed to generate and disseminate scientific data on the nature, causes, and potential consequences of gratitude for human health and well-being. Neuroscientist Emiliana Simon-Thomas, director of science for the Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley, also works alongside Emmons in the study of gratitude.

Gratitude is the mental tool we use to remind ourselves of the good things.

As Thomas reports, “After eight weeks of practice, the brain scans of individuals who practiced gratitude showed stronger brain structures for social cognition and empathy, as well as the part of the brain that processes reward.”

Thomas also notes that gratitude relieves symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress and helps people with PTSD recover more quickly, and studies involving trauma survivors—Vietnam veterans and 9/11 survivors—find that gratitude is an important factor in healing from trauma.

Gratitude brings happiness

UC-Berkeley's Great Good online magazine, promoting the radio program "The Science of Gratitude," says the recipe for happiness can be boiled down to one easy recommendation: "Say: Thank you.” But happiness is just the tip of the iceberg, as research reveals that gratitude is associated with an impressive array of benefits, including the following:

• Improving personal and work relationships.
• Improving physical health.
• More empathy, sensitivity, and bonding with
• Higher self-esteem and increasing happiness.
• Improving self-care.
• Increasing mental strength and resilience.
• Increasing the level of optimism.
• Improving sleep quality.
• Reducing stress and anxiety.
• Reducing anger.
• Less focus on material things.

Recipe for a grateful heart

I'm particularly fond of the way editor Jeremy Adam Smith describes gratitude in an article in Great Good magazine:

“Gratitude is the mental tool we use to remind ourselves of the good things. It is a lens that helps us see things that are not on our list of problems to solve. We highlight the people who give us the good things in life.”

A 'grateful heart' is a healthy heart.

In the belief that he lacks a little discipline in the matter of gratitude, Smith made a list of six traits he believes distinguish "grateful people" from others:

1. Thinking about death and loss once in a while

Also known as “mental subtraction,” this involves acknowledging what we do have by thinking about what we don't have. It is not about death and gloom; It is about developing appreciation by considering all possibilities.

2. Make the effort to enjoy life and beauty

tasting positive experiences makes them stick more in the brain. Have you ever noticed that the first sip of coffee tastes the best? We have a tendency to adapt to pleasurable things, and to enjoy them less with time, a phenomenon that belongs to "hedonism", and the remedy is to temporarily give up these things and make them new again.

3. Count new things as gifts, not rights

Rights are the antithesis of gratitude, and preoccupation with oneself will quickly quell any feelings of gratitude. Gratitude for people, not just for things: Expressing gratitude towards others strengthens social bonds and increases trust, empathy, and affection.

4. Acknowledgment and Goodwill

Grateful people are accurate expressions of gratitude, which makes their expressions more authentic. For example, they will say, "I love you because you made me pancakes on Saturday morning when you found out I had a rough week," instead of, "I love you because you're wonderful." Rather, it is a way of thinking about the world that turns obstacles into opportunities.

Practicing gratitude

The practice of gratitude is to slow down and look deeply into your life's "past, present, and future." In addition to looking for gifts in the present, additional opportunities for gratitude are cultivated by recalling memories from the past and developing a positive view of the future.

Here are some suggestions for developing the practice of gratitude:

1. Say thank-you notes: Always write short thank-you notes for greater impact. Write one detailed letter of gratitude per month. Consider writing one to yourself every once in a while.
2. Thank someone with your mind: Never underestimate the power of your thoughts.
3. Journal gratitude: Spend a few minutes before bed jotting down the things you're grateful for once or twice a week. It has been proven that focusing on personal relationships, as opposed to material things, is more effective.
4. Create a gratitude box: Write what you're grateful for each day on a slip of paper and put it in a box. When you've had a hard day, pull out and re-read a few as a gratitude reminder.
5. Thanksgiving at Meal: Practice sharing daily gratitude with your family over dinner.