Mental health treatment isn’t just about limiting negative feelings, it’s also about boosting joy.
We’ve all experienced it: the urge to withdraw and avoid experiences we know we’ll enjoy – even when a mood boost is what we need most. We skip the birthday party. We cancel lunch. They just don’t seem worth the effort. And then, more likely than not, we feel worse than we did before.
Our drive to seek out happiness is a muscle that we can develop. So is our ability to relish experiences. Andcan learn to amp up their reward sensitivity by training themselves to notice and savour their positive emotions. That’s even true for people with depression and anxiety who struggle to experience pleasure, a condition called anhedonia.Of course, all of us have trouble pursuing pleasure sometimes. I recently took my young sons to the beach for the weekend.
Begin by planning one activity per day that will make you happy or give you a sense of accomplishment. This will make you less likely to postpone positive experiences. Be realistic – it can be as small as treating yourself to a favourite snack, reading a few pages of a novel or FaceTiming a friend.After you’ve enjoyed that daily moment, close your eyes and recount out loud, in the present tense, where and when you experienced the greatest joy.
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