Short, Simple “Happiness Exercises” May Boost In-the-Moment Mood
In a study of people recovering from substance abuse disorders, Massachusetts General Hospital researchers found that simple, self-administered “happiness exercises” provided noticeable improvements in mood. And these activities, with names like “Reliving Happy Moments” and “Savoring,” may provide similar benefits for others, too.
In the study, more than 500 people with current or previous substance abuse problems were assigned one of five text-based exercises. The activities took only a few minutes, and afterward the study participants reported on whether they experienced any temporary gains in happiness. Exercises that focused on appreciating the positive things in the person’s life tended to boost happiness the most, while an exercise that required thought about recent challenges actually reduced feelings of happiness.
Though it’s too early to tell exactly how such exercises might find their way into standard substance abuse treatment, the findings suggest that taking a few minutes for “orchestrated positive experiences” may be something everyone should consider, says the study’s lead author, Bettina Hoeppner, PhD, a senior research scientist at MGH’s Recovery Research Institute.
“Our study showed that completing these exercises increases how happy you feel right now,” she explains. “How long that improvement lasts is unclear. Or if doing these exercises routinely provides the same boost or perhaps even overall elevates your positive affect is also unknown. But even so, consider this: These are very short, and very simple exercises. And doing them can make you feel a little happier right now. That’s not an inconsequential thing.”
Happiness Exercises
The activity that produced the greatest happiness gains was “Reliving Happy Moments.” The participants chose one of their own photos that captured a happy moment and then entered text describing what was going on in that moment.
The exercise that led to the next highest gains in happiness was “Savoring,” in which the individual described two positive experiences they noticed and appreciated the previous day. A somewhat similar activity, called “Rose, Bud, Thorn,” tasked the participants with describing a positive highlight from the previous day as well as a challenge that was faced. The exercise concluded with a brief description of a pleasurable experience they were anticipating for the following day. This produced the third highest gains in happiness.
Perhaps not surprisingly then, the exercise that diminished happiness asked the participants to describe only three challenges faced the previous day. The exercise, called “3 Hard Things,” suggests that while tackling the challenges of addiction or any health issue is unavoidable, it’s important not to ignore the things that boost one’s mood or outlook, Dr. Hoeppner says.
“Seeing the results of the ‘3 Hard Things’ exercise juxtaposed with the results of the happiness exercises really emphasizes for me the importance of adding the consideration of happiness to the approaches we take in overcoming problematic substance use,” she adds. “Dealing with substance use issues is hard. For that matter, changing any health behavior is challenging. And while ‘challenging’ and ‘hard’ aren’t necessarily ‘bad,’ our results indicate that even thinking about or briefly recounting challenges can drain our resources in this case, our feeling of happiness. Given that there are a lot of challenges in recovery, I think it is important to start thinking about how we might help replenish our resources, so as to enable us to deal with all the challenges we need toÊaddress.”
Happiness as a Treatment Goal
Dr. Hoeppner notes that when treating substance abuse and other health challenges, there has long been a focus on the pathology of the individual’s condition how did this disease or addiction start and what effects has it had on the person? Also, the health demands of a person in crisis often leave little room for laying the groundwork for life long after the crisis is over.
“Treatment seekers oftentimes have a whole lot of very immediate, very serious needs,” Dr. Hoeppner says. “It’s tough to look beyond these concerns to chart the course for long-term goals, even if the pursuit of these long-term goals, such as happiness and a sense of purpose in life, may positively impact short-term gains.”
Previous studies show that with smoking cessation, for example, maintaining a positive outlook leads to higher success rates. Dr. Hoeppner is developing a smartphone app that encourages people trying to quit smoking to take “happiness exercises” to remain confident and positive.
“The goal is to maintain, or possibly even increase, happiness during the stressful time of giving up smoking, based on research that demonstrates that higher levels of positive affect are related to important aspects of quitting smoking, such as confidence in quitting smoking and broad thought-action-repertoire to deal with challenges, as they come along,” she says. “Other clinical approaches may be to give happiness ‘homework’ during clinical care, where patients are asked to complete exercises like these on their own. How often and for how long people should be doing such exercises is a question we don’t have the answer for yet. The goal of this research project was to stimulate research in this area to answer theseÊquestions.”
Take Time to Be Happy
While she acknowledges that there is still much research to be done to better understand the potential impact of happiness exercises in treatment or everyday living, Dr. Hoeppner believes there is no reason you can’t make the effort to boost your happiness once in a while. Rather than figure happy moments will just find you on a busy day, take a moment to go find them.
“Consider how easily we can feel stressed and overwhelmed in our daily lives,” she says. “Imagine being able to take a few minutes, literally, two to three minutes, to step back from that stress and instead engage with something positive. That short break can break us out of a rut our thoughts might be stuck in, give us new energy to tackle a task, or simply make us feel better, so that we are in a position to be our better selves that act with compassion and consideration rather than react to life with worry and fear.”
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