How Gratitude Affects the Brain

Gratitude is defined as the quality of being thankful and showing appreciation. It focuses on recognizing the good in your life. Thinking about or writing down at least one thing that you are grateful for every day is a great way to self-reflect. It can be something small such as waking up in the morning, or something large such as overcoming an illness. Studies have shown that people who consciously and regularly show gratitude are happier, more optimistic, and have an overall better feeling about their lives.

Although practicing gratitude has positive effects for those struggling with mental health, anyone can do it to improve their life. For people who do have mental illnesses, practicing gratitude while attending psychological counseling will benefit them more than if they were to only attend counseling. Gratitude helps to separate yourself from the negative or toxic thoughts and feelings you have. When writing what you are grateful for, you are focusing on things that are going well, big or small, rather than things that aren’t going well. This is helpful for recognizing that even though it can feel like nothing is working out or that everything is going wrong, it is not always true and there will always be things to be grateful for.

Similar to the majority of mental health treatment, it takes time and consistency to see results or notice a difference when practicing gratitude. Another beneficial tool is having a genuine conversation with someone about what you each are grateful for. It is easy to get caught up in our own lives, but having real conversations helps calm our minds. In addition, studies have shown that people who are grateful in general show greater neural sensitivity in the medial prefrontal cortex of the brain, the area associated with learning and decision making. This indicates that people who are more grateful are also more conscious of how they express gratitude. It also shows greater activation in the medial prefrontal cortex, which means that practicing gratitude can help train the brain to become more sensitive and improve mental health over time.

All in all, practicing gratitude shows benefits for your brain, mental health, and overall quality of life. It does not take long, as you do not have to write it down; it can be spending as little as two minutes thinking about what you are grateful for. It is something that everyone should do, not only for the health benefits but also to appreciate the lives we live and all that we have.

Picture Source: mindfulness4u.org