{"id":11491,"date":"2024-08-19T09:00:40","date_gmt":"2024-08-19T09:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/?p=11491"},"modified":"2024-08-19T09:23:48","modified_gmt":"2024-08-19T09:23:48","slug":"want-to-feel-happier-heres-how-to-cultivate-positive-emotions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/?p=11491","title":{"rendered":"Want to Feel Happier? Here\u2019s How to Cultivate Positive Emotions."},"content":{"rendered":"
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We\u2019ve all experienced it: the urge to withdraw and duck experiences we know we\u2019ll enjoy \u2014 even when a mood boost is what we need most. We skip the birthday party. We cancel lunch. They just don\u2019t seem worth the effort. And then, more likely than not, we feel worse than we did before.<\/p>\n

So how do you find the motivation to get out there, especially when you\u2019re feeling low, stressed, tired or lonely? One proven strategy is to strengthen what psychologists call your reward sensitivity.<\/p>\n

Our drive to seek out happiness is a muscle that we can develop. So is our ability to relish experiences. And almost anyone<\/a> can learn to amp up their reward sensitivity by training themselves to notice and savor their positive emotions. That\u2019s even true for people with depression and anxiety who struggle to experience pleasure, a condition called anhedonia.<\/p>\n

Of course, all of us have trouble pursuing pleasure sometimes. I recently took my young sons to the beach for the weekend. Hours before our getaway, I learned a friend had died. Numbed by the news, I was in no mood to have a good time, even though I wanted to make things special for my family.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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It\u2019s part of my job as a therapist to teach people how to manage their emotions. And as I tell my patients, it\u2019s possible to honor legitimate sources of pain and still recognize that moments of brightness improve our well-being.<\/p>\n

The research-backed strategies below, which I use in my practice, helped me to make the most of our trip.<\/p>\n

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We\u2019ve all experienced it: the urge to withdraw and duck experiences we know we\u2019ll enjoy \u2014 even when a mood boost is what we need most. We skip the birthday party. We cancel lunch. They just don\u2019t seem worth the effort. And then, more likely than not, we feel worse than we did before.So how do you find the motivation to get out there, especially when you\u2019re feeling low, stressed, tired or lonely? One proven strategy is to strengthen what psychologists call your reward sensitivity.Our drive to seek out happiness is a muscle that we can develop. So is our ability to relish experiences. And almost anyone can learn to amp up their reward sensitivity by training themselves to notice and savor their positive emotions. That\u2019s 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. Hours before our getaway, I learned a friend had died. Numbed by the news, I was in no mood to have a good time, even though I wanted to make things special for my family.It\u2019s part of my job as a therapist to teach people how to manage their emotions. And as I tell my patients, it\u2019s possible to honor legitimate sources of pain and still recognize that moments of brightness improve our well-being.The research-backed strategies below, which I use in my practice, helped me to make the most of our trip.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and\u00a0log into\u00a0your Times account, or\u00a0subscribe\u00a0for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber?\u00a0Log in.Want all of The Times?\u00a0Subscribe.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11493,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11491","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11491","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11491"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11491\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11494,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11491\/revisions\/11494"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/11493"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11491"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11491"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11491"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}