Increasing happiness (Part 2) The last couple of decades have seen an explosion of interest in psychological research into happiness. More specifically, researchers are devoting more attention than ever before into investigating strategies and interventions designed to increase individual happiness. This area of research interest will continue to be our prime focus in the coming…
Happiness is a topic we have touched on before in this series and will continue to do as we proceed. There is one simple reason to explain why we have and will focus so much on happiness – we are all interested in it. More specifically, I’m willing to assume that everyone reading these words…
The ratio of positive to negative experiences One of the more intuitively obvious markers of well-being is the experience of positive emotions, events, and interactions. Essentially, positive experiences will make us feel good, and the more positive encounters or moments we have, the more positive emotions we will feel. Against this backdrop, many researchers…
There is a long-established tradition in psychology for encouraging what has been termed as disclosive writing. For many years, studies investigating the effectiveness of such writing tended to ask participants to write about traumatic or emotionally upsetting events over a specified period of time, typically three or four days. The logic behind this approach is…
Experiences or ‘stuff’? When living in a society that emphasises consumption it can be easy to be sucked into the idea that more ‘stuff’ will bring with it more happiness. It is difficult to avoid the constant barrage of advertising on television, radio, the internet, and even billboards in this country, and at least as…
Learned helplessness & explanatory style Recently, we devoted much time and attention to cognitive distortions – our tendency to think in irrational and frequently self-defeating ways (see Blog #16 & #17). Related to this idea is that of learned helplessness. Whether you have heard the phrase before or not, you will most likely be…
The Minister for Health Simon Harris TD visited MPHC on 12th January 2017. He was given a guided tour of the facility and witnessed the great work being done by all the staff in MPHC. Minister for Heath Simon Harris TD with Senior Cardiac Technician Mary Mary Minister for Health Simon Harris TD, Dr Tony…
Blog #18 – Strategies for the New Year If you’re anything like me, the arrival of a new year brings with it a warrior-like zeal to make seismic changes to your life. The list can be long. Even the act of writing it makes us feel good. Committing to the intention to a) lose…
Cognitive distortions II Last time, we spoke about cognitive distortions. For those of you who need a reminder after the excesses of Christmas, this term refers to patterns of irrational thinking that we are all vulnerable to, to one extent or another. The specific examples we used to highlight just how common this type of…