Other Important Factors in Happiness PDF

Other Important Factors in Happiness Other important factors in happiness A. Smile B. Laugh C. Sleep D. Maintain a healthy diet E. Exercise F. Spend time in nature The Mind-Body Connection Remember the mind-body connection: What we do — or don’t do — with our bodies influences our mind • Regulat...

Other Important Factors in Happiness Other important factors in happiness A. Smile B. Laugh C. Sleep D. Maintain a healthy diet E. Exercise F. Spend time in nature The Mind-Body Connection Remember the mind-body connection: What we do — or don’t do — with our bodies influences our mind • Regulate sleep • Exercise • Nourish your body with healthy foods • Smile Smile Facial feedback theory: sensory feedback from facial expression produces particular emotions (e.g., form your face into a smile and you will feel happier) Ø Study in which participants were asked to contract certain facial muscles in ways that were (unbeknownst to the participant) designed to mold the face into a smile or a frown (e.g., “make the golf tees touch”) • If subtly manipulated into furrowing their brows, people feel sadder while looking at sad photos (Niedenthal, 2007; Duclos, Laird, Schneider et al., 1989) Ø Saying the phonemes e and ah, which activates smiling muscles, puts people in a better mood than saying the German ü, which activates muscles associated with negative emotions (Zajonc, Murphy, & Inglehart, 1989) Injections of Botox impairs people’s ability to read facial emotions, as well as to experience emotions • Botox treatment of laughter lines is associated with increased depression scores • Even treatment of frown lines may be problematic … why? Ø Frownie face commonly occurs during the plateau phase prior to orgasm, so Botox has been associated with reduced sexual function • Botox also slowed interpretation and understanding of emotions expressed in written statements − “You spring up the stairs to your lover’s apartment” − “Reeling from the fight with that stubborn bigot, you slam the car door.” (Lewis, M.B., 2018; Neal & Chartrand, 2011; Havas, Glenberg, Gutowski, et al., 2010) Laugh Ø Participants read funny and non-funny cartoons while in fMRI scanner Results: • Humor is associated with increased activation of a network of subcortical regions including the nucleus accumbens, a key component of the reward system (Mobbs, Greicius, Abdel-Azim et al., 2003) Ø In addition, laughter causes the endothelium (tissue lining the blood vessels) to expand and increases blood flow by 22% – equivalent to that produced by aerobic exercise or statin therapy (Miller, Mangano, Park et al., 2006) ➜ People who laugh a lot have lower incidences of heart disease – basically gives you a cardiovascular workout (Clark, Seidler, & Miller, 2001) v Tickling Sleep Getting more sleep is one of the most effective ways to increase happiness • Gallup survey found that 63% of adults who reported getting sleep they needed reported being “very satisfied” with their personal life compared with only 36% of those needing more sleep (Mason, 2005) • When 909 working women reported on their daily moods, researchers found that − Money mattered little, so long as person was not battling poverty − Less time pressure at work and a good night’s sleep mattered a lot (Kahneman, Krueger, Schkade et al., 2004) • For students, less sleep also predicts more conflicts in friendships and romantic relationships (Gordon & Chen, 2014; Tavernier & Willoughby, 2014) Also, sleep plays an important role in emotion regulation • (Walker & van der Helm, 2009) After a night of no sleep, brain scans show impaired medial prefrontal cortex activity and associated connectivity with extended limbic regions, which normally helps keep our anxiety in check (Simon, Rossi, Harvey et al., 2020) • REM sleep involves activation of the amygdala and limbic forebrain structures – and may be a way of “working through” emotional issues Ø Patients with depression are more likely to be in remission a year later if: − They show high eye movement density and high affect strength during their first REM period − They report more negative dreams at the beginning of the night and fewer negative dreams at the end of the night (Cartwright, Luten, Young, et al., 1998) Ø Participants deprived of REM sleep show − Greater amygdala and less frontal activation after viewing emotionally distressing film − Less reduction in negative affect upon second viewing (Rosales-LaGarde, Armony, del Rio-Portilla, et al., 2012) Research indicates that most psychological disorders, including mood and anxiety disorders, are associated with patterns of disturbed sleep (Allison Harvey) • Effect is bidirectional: sleep deprivation increases risk of development of disorders and exacerbates symptoms; disorders in turn in turn may produce sleep disturbances − People with persistent insomnia are 7.6 times more likely to develop depression within a year than those who sleep well (Eaton, Badawi, & Melton, 1995) − Research following youth through time found that sleep loss predicts depression rather than vice versa (Gregory, Rijksdijk, Lau et al., 2009) • Treating insomnia doubles the chances of recovery from depression (Manber, Ebinger, Gress et al., 2008) v CBT-I has been touted as “the most significant advance in treatment of depression since the introduction of Prozac in 1987” Ø Treatment for insomnia - Treatment of underlying physical/psychological problem - Behavioral treatment (CBT-I) o Sleep restriction: go to bed and get up at the same time everyday o Stimulus control: associate your bed with sleep o Relaxation response training “Say, what's your secret?” ★ Many studies have indicated that CBT is just as effective as sleep meds and has more lasting overall benefit - Other helpful practices: o Exercise daily (preferably in late afternoon), but not right before bed o No caffeine after 5PM o Relax and dim lights hour or two before bedtime − Using screens in a dark room was associated with worse sleep outcomes than using them with the lights on − Children who used screens at bedtime consistently scored lower on quality-of-life tests (Mureku, Barker, Mutz et al., 2019) o Eat foods with more fiber and less simple carbs and saturated fat − More fiber and less saturated fat led to more slow-wave (deep) sleep − More sugar and simple carbs was associated with more frequently awakenings (St-Onge, Rogerts, Shechter, et al., 2016) o Consume milk, banana, or sunflower seeds right before bed to raise serotonin levels o Identify problematic thoughts and determine how to deal with them ☛ Developing Greater Body Awareness Develop greater awareness of your physical body • Sleep when you’re tired • Eat when you’re hungry; stop when you’re full Ø Have you ever had the experience where you’re too exhausted to drag yourself off to bed, so you stay glued to the screen?! ➜ That is not going to promote happiness Food and Mood An analysis of 16 studies found that dietary interventions can reduce depression symptoms (Firth, Marx, Dash et al., 2019) The Mediterranean diet may be particularly beneficial for treatment of depression Ø Patients with depression all of whom had poor diets consisting of lots of processed and sugary foods were given nutrition counseling for a Mediterranean-style diet Results: − After 12 weeks, experimental group showed significantly greater improvement in depression symptoms than control group that received social support − 32% achieved full remission, compared to just 8% in the social support group (Jacka, O’Neil, Opie et al., 2017) Ø A four-year study of more than 10,000 university students in Spain found that people who closely followed a Mediterranean diet were at lower risk for depression (Sanchez-Villegas, Delgado-Rodriguez, Alonso, et al, 2009) ✤ Proposed mechanism: depression is associated with a chronic inflammatory response, and a poor diet increases systemic inflammation The Mediterranean diet: • High consumption of olive oil, legumes, unrefined cereals, fruits, and vegetables • Moderate to high consumption of fish; moderate consumption of dairy products True comfort foods Ø Australian researchers examined food diaries of 12,385 randomly sampled adults from an ongoing government survey Results: − Higher fruit and vegetable intake predicted increased happiness, life satisfaction and well-being − The psychological gains were equivalent to moving from unemployment to employment (Mujcic & Oswald, 2016) v Various nutrients, amino acids, minerals, etc. in food provide the foundation for the synthesis of neurotransmitters, such as serotonin, that directly affect mood Effect of Microbiome on Psychological Function New research indicates that gut bacteria may affect psychological function • Analysis of gut bacteria in 1000 participants indicated that − Faecalibacterium and Coprococcus bacteria were consistently associated with higher quality of life indicators − People with depression had deficits of Dialister and Coprococus bacteria, even after controlling for antidepressant use − Low levels of Butyricicoccus was found to be linked to antidepressant treatment (Valles-Colomer, Falony, Darzi, et al., 2019) • When gut bacteria from children with autism spectrum disorder were transplanted into mice, the mice began to exhibit behavior characteristic of autism, such as less vocalization, less interaction with other mice, and more repetitive behaviors (Sharon, Cruz, Kang, et al., 2019) Participants in study • Ingested a prebiotic, galactooligosaccharide, everyday for 3 weeks • Then were given a test involving a series of words flashed quickly on a screen Ø Results: − Participants focused more on positive information and less on negative, than controls (given a placebo), as shown by reaction-time attention task − Test is often used to measure levels of anxiety and depression − Results were similar to those seen when participants take antidepressant or anti-anxiety medications (Schmidt, Cowen, Harmer, et al., 2015) Women who ate two cups of yogurt a day responded more calmly to images of faces displaying negative affect (Tillisch, Labus, Kilpatrick, et al., 2014) Mechanism by which microbiome influences mood is unclear, but may have to do with • Ability of bacteria to break down food • Gut bacteria using microRNAs to alter how DNA works in nerve cells Physical Exercise Surveys show, and large-scale randomized interventions confirm, that physical exercise may very well be the most effective instant happiness boosters of all activities (Lyubomirsky) • Virtually every observational study on the subject has found a positive relationship between being physically active and being happy, and the type of exercise does not seem to matter − Even exercising once a week or 10 minutes a day helps • The positive relationship between physical activity and happiness might be mediated by health and social functioning (Wiese, Kuykendall, & Tay, 2017) ✧ Exercise reduces the negative impact of stress • Students were asked to report stress intensity, affect, and physical activity on 65 days over the course of an academic year • Stress was negatively correlated with positive affect • However, physical activity weakened the association between stress and affect ✧ Exercise improves mental health (Flueckiger, Lieb, Meyer et al., 2016) • One analysis of 1.2 million Americans compared exercisers with non-exercisers • After controlling for other physical and social difference among them, the exercisers experienced 43% “fewer days of poor mental health in the last month” (Chekroud, Gueorguieva, Zheutlin et al., 2018) ✧ Physical exercise may be one of the most reliable way to develop positive feelings about one’s body (Campbell & Hausenblaus, 2009) ✧ Regular exercise in later life predicts better cognitive functioning and reduced risk of neurocognitive disorders and Alzheimer’s disease (Kramer & Erickson, 2007) Dozens of experiments and longitudinal studies have indicated that exercise reduces and helps prevent depression and anxiety (Stubbs, Vancampfort, Rosenbaum et al., 2017; Harvey, Overland, Hatch et al., 2017; McCann & Holmes, 1984) Ø When researchers randomly assigned depressed individuals to an exercise group, an antidepressant group, or a placebo control group, exercise diminished depression as effectively as antidepressants – and it better prevented symptom recurrence (Hoffman, Babyak, Craighead et al., 2011) Ø The majority of protective effect of exercise against depression occurred at low levels of exercise and was observed regardless of intensity (Hoffman et al., 2011) − There was no indication of any additional benefit beyond 1 hour of exercise each week (Harvey, Overland, Hatch et al., 2017) Ø A meta-analysis of 49 studies found that exercise has a large protective effect against development of depression across age groups and geographical regions (Schuch, Vancampfort, Firth et al., 2018) Physical exercise similarly has a positive effect on those without a clinical diagnosis Ø A meta-meta-analysis integrating 92 studies on non-clinical adult populations found that physical activity reduced symptoms of depression and anxiety symptoms (Rebar, Stanton, Geard et al., 2015) ➜ Exercise may be particularly effective for preventing depression in sub-clinical populations “Run around the house with a sock in your mouth for five minutes a day. Trust me, it will put you in a better mood.” Neural Basis of Benefits of Exercise Like an antidepressant drug, exercise orders up mood-boosting chemicals from our body’s internal pharmacy – neurotransmitters such as norepinephrine (adrenaline), serotonin, and dopamine (remember DOSE?) (Lin & Kuo, 2013) Exercise stimulates the production of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and new, stress-resistant neurons Ø Mice were given unlimited access to running wheels or no running wheel • Runner’s brains developed far more new neurons • These neurons were − Larger and had more and longer dendrites Mice will dash up to 2.5 mi a night when given access to running wheel − Better integrated into the overall brain circuitry with more connections to other neurons − Less easily activated by neurochemical messages to fire rapidly ➜ New neurons in runners’ brains remained calmer and less prone to excitability than new neurons in the inactive animals’ brains (Sah, Peterson, Lubejko et al., 2017) ✧ Exercise reduces stress and anxiety by increasing production and activity of neurons specifically designed to release GABA, an inhibitory neurotransmitter • These essentially serve as nanny neurons, shushing and quieting overly excited neurons (Schoenfeld, Rada, Pieruzzini et al., 2013) ✧ Exercise in mice upregulates gene encoding VGF nerve growth factor, a protein that stimulates the production of new, stress-resistant neurons • Administration of a synthetic VGF-derived peptide produces a robust antidepressant response in mice (Hunsberger, Newton, Bennett et al., 2007) ✧ Exercise produces toned muscles, which filter plasma kynurenine, a depression-causing toxin • Experiments with transgenic mice have shown that reducing plasma kynurenine renders mice resistant to depression induced by chronic mild stress or direct kynurenine administration (Agudelo, Femenia, Orhan et al., 2014) ✧ Last but not least, effects of runner’s high are mediated by endocannabinoids, as well as endorphins • These neurochemicals promote relaxation, reduced anxiety and pain sensitivity, and mild euphoria (Fuss, Steinle, Bindila et al., 2015) “I’m going out to get some endorphins.” Stress, Depression, and Lifestyle Over Time Rates of depression and anxiety have increased dramatically in the last 80 years, especially among young people • A study conducted on college campuses a few years back found that nearly 45% of college students were “so depressed that they had difficulty functioning” (Ben-Shahar) • Diagnosis of depression rose 63% among adolescents between 2013 and 2016 • Between 2007 and 2014, rates of suicides in adolescents more than doubled • Skyrocketing rates of depression and anxiety are found even in studies that control for social acceptability of depression and anxiety by looking at specific symptoms reported on anonymous surveys, e.g., MMPI studies ✧ Yes, it was easier to make ends meet in the U.S. in the 1970s than it is today, but for most of history, people worked just as hard, if not harder (think pioneers!) than people today ✧ Yet rates of stress, anxiety, and depression seem to have been significantly lower in the past Why? One reason may be that they were spending most of their day in nature – rather than sitting in front of a screen… Benefits of Spending Time in Nature Ø Study comparing participants who took 90 min stroll along quiet, tree-lined paths with controls who walked along a city highway found that the former showed - Greater reduction in “morbid rumination” - Reduced activity in the subgenual prefrontal cortex (associated with brooding) (Bratman, Hamilton, Hanhn et al., 2015) ★ Exercise in nature for an added boost! Ø Study using a low-cost mobile EEG recorder suggests that we have an inherent preference for natural settings • Participants used a mobile EEG recorder while taking a 25 min walk through three different areas of Edinburgh of approximately equal size − Urban shopping street − Path through green space − Street in a busy commercial district • Equipment provided continuous recordings from five channels, labelled − Short-term excitement − Frustration − Engagement − Long-term excitement (or arousal) − Meditation (Aspinall, Mavros, Coyne et al., 2013) Results: • Brain activity associated with lower frustration, engagement and arousal and higher meditation was shown when moving into the green space zone • Reverse was shown when moving out of it • Lower engagement and arousal may encourage a more open, meditative mindset and allow for attention restoration − May explain the restorative attentional effects of nature, found in the study described in the next slide Raw EEG signals are “translated” and classified as different emotional states Two experiments on effects of nature on attention • As discussed earlier, the ability to focus attention is an important component of happiness (“A wandering mind is an unhappy mind,” remember?) 1) Undergraduate participants were • Given taxing cognitive tasks that involved attention and memory suppression • Then randomly assigned to take a 50- to 55-min walk in either − The Ann Arbor Arboretum (a park near campus) OR − Downtown Ann Arbor ➜ Walking in nature improved performance afterwards on a backwards digit-span task 2) Participants viewed pictures of nature or urban areas ➜ Nature Scene group showed improved performance on Attention Network Task, a directed attention task (Berman, Jonides, & Kaplan, 2008) In addition, effects of green areas on mental health may be enduring Ø Long-term study on people who moved to greener areas • Part of the British Household Panel Survey that tracked mental health data for 5 consecutive years • Participants in this sub-study relocated to a different residential area between the 2nd and 3rd years Results: • Relative to matched controls, individuals who moved to greener areas (n = 594) experienced an immediate improvement in mental health and less mental distress • The boost in mental health was also longlasting, maintaining its effects even 3 years post-move (Alcock, White, Wheeler et al., 2014) GHQ = General Health Questionnaire Ø Spending time in natural settings may be particular beneficial for kids with ADHD • Parents nationwide rated the aftereffects of 49 common after-school and weekend activities on children’s symptoms • Aftereffects were compared for activities conducted in green outdoor settings vs. those conducted in both built outdoor and indoor settings Results: • Green outdoor activities reduced symptoms significantly more than did activities conducted in other settings, even when activities were matched across settings • Findings were consistent across age, gender, and income groups (Kuo & Taylor, 2004) ☛Walk in Nature • Spend some time walking in a natural setting – without your cell phone or headset • Focus on connecting with your own body and with the world around you • First, focus on your body and the sensations of your feet on the ground, but as you continue walking, try to include and connect with the world, with what is in front of you • Ideally, the movements should arise naturally and spontaneously through connection with your inner self, as well as in the external world Many exercises for enhancing well being takes very little or no time at all… • • Just 10 minutes a day of these can produce significant improvements in mood: − Physical exercise − Walk in nature − Nap − Meditation − Journaling These exercises can be practiced while waiting in line at the store: − Gratitude/appreciation − Visualization/affirmation (more on that in next lecture) − Mindfulness/meditation − Breathing(!) ★ To sustainably increase well-being, appropriate strategies and practices must be performed with effort and habitual commitment (e.g., Seligman, Steen, Park et al., 2005) Video References Videos excerpted from: • Why Laughter is the Best Medicine | Human Face, The | BBC Studios https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0N60nBD-_Mc • The Invisible Universe Of The Human Microbiome https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DTrENdWvvM • Morning Exercise = Mental Health https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZBXldCxZEA • Nature Rx Part 1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bf5TgVRGND4