3 Articles on Mood Enhancement and Boosting
These articles can be coordinated with the abnormal/psychopathology chapters in your course. Each individually or together will work well as a trigger for discussion on the topics.
ARTICLE #1
Psychologists Reveal One Of The Best Ways To Boost Your Mood
DESCRIPTION
This article looks at a study that asked participants to do kind acts to others or to do good acts for the world around them, or to give themselves “a treat” when feeling down (or treat themselves well). The findings: “…the research found that giving to others or practicing acts of kindness can improve our mood and overall well-being…” Treating ourselves in a special way did not show an improvement in mood. The authors suggest that “prosocial behavior” is a key component in mood enhancement. (See this article for more about the study.)
SOURCE
Huffington Post, April 25, 2016, by Jacqueline Howard
LINK TO RESOURCE
(Tiny URL) http://tinyurl.com/hcsbkv6
ARTICLE #2
Meditation Plus Running as a Treatment for Depression
DESCRIPTION
Individuals who were depressed as measured by both self-report and computerized objective testing were taught the basics of mindful meditation in the form of focused attention. Additionally, the meditation was followed by an exercise regimen of running on a treadmill or stationary bicycle; this all took place twice week over eight weeks. “There were significant changes. The 22 volunteers with depression now had a 40 percent reduction in symptoms of the condition. They reported, in particular, much less inclination to ruminate over bad memories.” The researchers noted that ruminative type of depression can be traced to both the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus, and as it turns out both meditation and exercise affects both of these areas of the brain. Further experiments are planned around these findings.
SOURCE
New York Times, March 16, 2016, By Gretchen Reynolds
LINK TO RESOURCE
(Tiny URL) http://tinyurl.com/zjarspe
ARTICLE #3
Vanilla Yogurt Makes Us Happy, And Scientists Explain Why — Yes, there’s a science to it.
DESCRIPTION
In an interesting study, participants were asked to eat vanilla yogurt or another flavor (both were of same brand). They then rated pictures as positive or negative which researchers used as a way of assessing mood. “The researchers found that eating the vanilla yogurt resulted in the participants projecting more positive emotions than when they ate the other flavors, and that yogurts with lower fat content gave people a stronger positive emotional response.” The researchers hypothesize that a number of factors could be at work such as being “pleasantly surprised” by the flavor of the yogurt, old positive associations of the vanilla flavoring, and also the possibility that a vanilla scent has positive effect on endorphin production. Further research will be planned to tease out the effects.
SOURCE
Huffington Post, November 11, 2015, by Jacqueline Howard
LINK TO RESOURCE
(Tiny URL) http://tinyurl.com/gpuoc5d
CLASS DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
•What is the difference between mood, affect, and depression?
•What are the traditional treatments for mood issues (other than depression) such as “feeling in a bad mood?”
•What are the traditional treatments for depression?
•Based on the three articles: what less traditional approaches might be used for either mood or depression?
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