The importance of positive psychology and how to benefit from it

Being flexible and promoting resilience have become very important in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. The field of positive psychology therefore focuses on promoting well-being and positive emotions to enhance resilience and maintain mental health in the midst of difficult situations.

As an assistant professor at Fukushima Medical University and a Ph.D. candidate, Yoshitake Takebayashi's research focuses on a variety of topics, such as positive psychology, building models to predict suicidal thoughts, evaluating the efficacy and impact of cognitive therapy, and reducing emotional insensitivity during psychotherapy. In an interview with psychiatrist Jamie Aten, Takebayashi answered some related questions. Here's what he said:

The Concept of Positive Psychology:

Positive psychology is a field of research that studies well-being and effective activities related to promoting it. Well-being is divided into subjective well-being and psychological well-being in positive psychology, where subjective well-being relates to life satisfaction and positive emotions, while the second type consists of six psychological factors.

Positive emotions can be categorized from an evolutionary standpoint as pride, sexual desire, love, contentment, amazement, entertainment, attachment, gratitude, and pleasure.

Psychological well-being is a positive psychological function that consists of six integrated elements: life purpose, personal development, environmental control, autonomy, self-acceptance, and positive relationships with others. Based on research on how well being works, several clinical procedures have been developed, such as positive affect therapy that focuses on the activation of positive affect systems or well-being therapy centered around improving wpsychological well-being.

Ways understanding positive psychology can help us live more resilient lives during the COVID-19 pandemic:

According to research results in positive psychology, it has been shown that focusing on well-being experiences - such as positive emotions - is important in the midst of difficult situations to maintain mental health. In difficult situations, people tend to focus on negative information, but in reality, many of us experience some well-being. Surprisingly, 14% to 19% of people with depression or anxiety disorders report feeling very high levels of psychological well-being during their illness, but in the midst of difficult situations, positive experiences are fleeting and fade quickly. So we should have positive emotions in difficult situations. It has been shown that high levels of enjoyment enhance subjective and psychological well-being.

Research conducted on college students in a survey with a colleague of mine also found that emotional regulation and positive emotions during negative emotional states - that is, self-soothing - reduces symptoms of depression. In addition, having positive emotions may lead to the development of psychological well-being.

What are some ways to help people develop resilience during this pandemic?

As many guidelines suggest, the first step is to limit viewing negative or pandemic-related news to avoid overexposure to information about COVID-19. It is also helpful to set aside a predetermined time to worry about the pandemic. This is called the anxiety delay trial, and it has been shown to be effective in treating mental disorders such as generalized anxiety. As anxiety is difficult to control, by doing this, you can reduce the likelihood of worrying at other times of the day. After practicing these coping strategies, focusing on well-being will help you build resilience.

And there are three things that I recommend so that you can focus your life on the experience of well-being: The first is to create a daily schedule of activities and experiences that make you feel well-being in your schedule; the second is to identify negative thoughts that undermine the experience of well-being and objectively reassess the situation; this technique has been shown to be effective in improving well-being; and the third is to practice mindfulness, which is a cognitive skill that keeps you away from negative thoughts and can be acquired through meditation practice. It has been observed that distancing yourself from negative thoughts makes it easier to enhance psychological well-being.

Is there any advice to help us use what we have learned to support a friend or family member who is going through difficult life situations?

Pay attention to positive experiences in order to maintain mental health, but be careful when encouraging close people to do so. This is because if a close person is in a difficult situation, listening to them and sympathizing with their struggle before offering any advice will be the most important thing. After that, have a supportive conversation with them and encourage them to visit a mental health professional if necessary. You should not advise the person who is suffering from an ordeal to stop thinking negatively and try to be positive. Most importantly, maintain your psychological integrity when you support others; otherwise, it will be difficult to support those around you effectively.

In addition, social interaction is so important that happiness may be measured according to it. In this pandemic, face-to-face interactions are very limited due to social distancing; however, you may be able to maintain social interaction through social media, video games, and other means.

What are you currently working on that you would like to share with us?

I have been involved in several studies on the effectiveness of cognitive behavioral therapy in Japan, and currently, I am testing the effectiveness of a well-being treatment for patients suffering from long-term effects of depression and anxiety in Japan, based on the Safety Treatment Guidelines.

In the beginning, we were planning to study the effectiveness of face-to-face treatment only, but in light of the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, we are now working on creating an environment to provide treatment remotely due to the circumstances. The spread of physical and telepsychotherapy has lagged behind in Japan compared to the United States, and there are no official guidelines to help during the pandemic. So, our team was among the first to translate the APA and BACP telepsychology practice guides and put them on the web, and this rapid collaboration of international experts was one of the positive results that emerged during the pandemic.