PREVENTATIVE HEALTH

IN PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS
WHAT SCIENCE AND LIFE TELL US

MARY JO TODORAN, MSW, LCSW, ACSW

IPFW/PARKVIEW Student Assistance Program

WHY IT MATTERS
 Happy students are

 More resilient (they bounce back)

 More cooperative and less self-centered
 More willing to help and be team players
 More forgiving and frustration tolerant
 Better self-controlled
 Better performers than the less happy
 Healthier and live longer (lower blood pressure, more
robust immune systems, and tolerate more pain)
 Happiness is an antidote for depression

 OPTIMISM inoculates against depression, improves health,

and combines with talent and desire to enable achievement.
 Happy students generally are more helpful and charitable.
 Optimistic students, followed over time, had higher incomes
at age 35.
 Happy students draw people to themselves, as opposed to
depressed students who isolate.
 Having strong social bonds and a sense of belonging is one
of the most meaningful contributors to happiness.
 Studies have shown

 Two studies show that focusing on or creating pleasant

experiences enhances our learning or performance abilities.
 Kids who were asked to spend 30 seconds remembering happy
things did better on learning tasks they were given just after
remembering the happy experience.
 Internists who were given some candy or who watched a funny
video (vs. reading humanistic statements about medicine and a
control group) did better at diagnosing a hard-to-diagnose case
of liver disease.
 Cheerful college students ended up earning $25,000 more per
year than their sour counterparts.
 Happiness:
It’s a choice

Working on happiness won’t just make you happier, it will

boost the happiness of the people around you!
People are bad at predicting what
will make them happy.
IF ONLY…
 Can we buy happiness?

 A systematic study of 22
people who won major
lotteries found that they
reverted to their baseline
level of happiness over
time.

 How important money is

to you, more than money
itself, influences your
happiness.
 It can make a difference

 People in the U.S. don’t rate quality of life much higher than
people in Calcutta
 U.S. families making $100,000 are happier than those who
struggle, but families making more are not much happier.
 Relative ranking, how we compare to others matters
 The choices we make – lose it in Vegas, or use it for good
 The lack of money creates unhappiness
 What does money do?

 Satisfies basic material needs

 A way to keep score
 Win security
 Earn recognition
 Foster mastery or the arts
 Symbolizes status and success
 Creates power in relationships
 Buys time
The Hedonistic Treadmill
What we know
 Is it related?

Age
Gender and race
Expectations
Health
Happiness set point is not fixed

 One year after becoming quadriplegic, people’s

happiness level return to where they were before the
drastic change of circumstance
 Our Happiness Set Point is genetically influenced, but
not fixed
 THE BIG FIVE
Fundamentals of Well-Being

1) Relationships: Social Connectedness

2) Positive Emotion
3) Engagement
4) Meaning and Purpose
5) Accomplishment
 1. Relationships

 People who have one or more close friendships

are happier.
 We need close long-term relationships and an
ability to confide in others
 We need to belong
 Friendships boost immunity and lengthen life
 Cuts the risk of depression
 Gives you a sense of identity and self esteem
 Relationships

 Unlike money, marriage is

closely related to happiness.
40% of married people are
“very happy,” while only 24%
of unmarried, divorced,
separated, and widowed
people said this.
 Top 10% of happy people are
involved in romantic
relationships.
 2. Positive Emotion

 Joy
 Pleasure
 Enthusiasm
 Intimacy
 Caring for others
 Gratitude
 Appreciation
 Optimism
 Gratitude and Appreciation

 Grateful people are happier and more satisfied,

feel physically healthy, and exercise more
 Grateful people have a sense of belonging—less
depression and stress
 Brings freedom from envy
 Increases energy and enthusiasm
 Connects you to nature and other people
 Most world spiritual traditions encourage
giving thanks
 Optimism

 Optimists make sense of bad events

 They are better problem solvers
 Optimism has profound effects on health
 Act the way you want to feel
 Fake it till you make it
 Pessimism

 Pessimists see things as internal, unchangeable, and

pervasive.
 They feel that their troubles last forever, undermine everything
they do, and are uncontrollable.
 They are up to eight times more likely to become depressed.
 They do worse at school, sports, and most jobs than their
talents predict.
 They have worse physical health and shorter lives, as well as
rockier interpersonal relationships.
 Looking out for number one is more characteristic of sadness
than of well-being.
 Remove sources of bad feelings

 Guilt
 Remorse
 Shame
 Anger
 Envy
 Boredom
 Irritation
 Unforgiveness
 3. Engagement (flow)

DEFINITION: That joyful feeling we

experience when we are deeply
involved in an activity that is
challenging and well suited to our
skills, or when we are trying to reach
a meaningful goal.
 4. Purpose and Meaning

 Spiritual people are relatively happier—having

strong social support and opportunities for
socializing, community service, and making
friends.
 Mindfulness
 Meditation
 Hope
 Transcendent and timeless
 5. Accomplishment

To be truly happy you need to discover your unique

strengths and virtues and use them for a purpose
that is greater than your own personal goals.
 Live the life you are supposed to live
 Live up to the expectations you set for yourself
 Do your duty
 Continue to grow

To discover more, visit viacharacter.org

 Seligman’s
list of virtues/signature strengths

 Wisdom and Knowledge

 Courage
 Love and humanity
 Justice
 Temperance
 Spirituality and Transcendence

 (Website: viacharacter.org)
 If You Want to be Happy

 To engage in happiness inducing activities, you have

to “FEEL GOOD.”
 Exercise has a large clinical impact on depression
and anxiety.
 SLEEP IS PRIMARY
 Happiness takes energy and discipline

 Pursue a passion
 Make time and enjoy now  Give positive reviews
 Master a new technology  Care for others
 Stimulate the mind in new  Strengthen your intimate
ways relationships
 Forget about results  Increase your circle of
 Laugh out loud friends
 Use good manners  Become an active member
of the community
 Start a gratitude journal
 PLAY
What is play?
 PLAY is satisfying
 Doesn’t necessarily lead to praise or recognition
 Has no economic significance
 Doesn’t create social harm
 Draws you closer to other people

HAVE FUN!
 Make time to be silly
 Experiment with new interests
 Go off the path
 Start a collection
 What we get from school

 Atmosphere of growth
 Social contact
 Sense of purpose
 Self esteem
 Recognition
 Fun
 A final word about money:
Use money to support happy goals

 Strengthen relationships
 Promote health
 Education
 Have fun
 Help others, donate time or talent
 Create happy memories
 Indulge in a modest splurge
 Reward yourself
 Spend it on things YOU value
To define happiness/well-being

Positive Emotions
+
Engagement
+
Meaning
 CHOOSE TO BE HAPPY

“The constitution only

guarantees the American
people the right to pursue
happiness. You have to
catch it yourself.”

Ben Franklin
 Sources

 Dr. Martin E. P. Seligman (Author of Learned

Optimism, Authentic Happiness," and in 2011,
"Flourish.") from the University of
Pennsylvania, Positive Psychology Program.
 The Happiness Project book written by
author Gretchen Rubin. She created a kit for
“Happiness Circles”.
 Bill O’Hanlon, Life is Good! The Science of
Happiness. Catching Happiness:
Putting Positive Psychology into Practice
 Project Happiness, an exploration group
composed of high school seniors in the
United States, India, and Nigeria. They
created a handbook for groups.