Positive Psychology

Positive Psychology

I tried to look at the bright side of life, but it hurt my eyes - Grumpy Cat (feline Internet sensation)

Optimist: I see a light at the end of the tunnel!

Pessimist: I see a freight train!

Realist: I see two dummies sitting on the rail tracks!

Quoth the Raven: "Nevermore!" - Edgar Allan Poe

Attachment and Attraction

Jokes aside, a famous psychological study found that individuals with depression actually had a more realistic perspective on life, the glass being indeed half empty, at least in that particular experiment carried out by the researchers. Psychology is a social science and thus relies mostly on studies. Unlike physics or other ‘hard’ sciences, psychology cannot always be quantified using laboratory experiments and thus turns to naturalistic observation and social experiments to predict, describe and explain (goals of science).

Positive Psychology Must Prevail. Photo by Elena.

Psychology has many branches, and two very opposite disciplines may be juxtaposed in the likes of positive psychology and abnormal psychology, mostly because abnormal psychology looks at disorders negatively impacting human lives, while positive psychology seeks to concentrate on the brighter side of life. To illustrate, Major Depressive Disorder, commonly known simply as depression to the general population, translates into a persistent state of low mood levels. Everyone gets the blues and it appears normal, particularly in reaction to a traumatic event, but in individuals with depression, the symptoms persist for more than two weeks, and include (list non-exhaustive):

• sudden weight loss or gain
• altered sleep patterns
• suicidal or dark thoughts
• loss of motivation
• social withdrawal
• loss of interest in any (and often all) activities once enjoyed

Internal, as opposed to external locus of control, has often been cited a a predictor of lifelong success, self-confidence and as a sort of protection against depressed mood. Internal locus of control is the belief that one influences the world and events in it (to a rational degree, not like ideas of reference in schizophrenia!), while external locus of control may be compared to fatalism. In addition, learned helplessness may be viewed as an extreme of this continuum, believing that no matter what one does, the effect will be the same. A word of caution, however. One of the definitions (non-scientific) of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results, so while persistence and positive thinking may be helpful at times, at other times changing strategy or giving up altogether may be the wise choice to make. Sometimes, it is just not meant to be, and one must accept reality as it is.

For the person suffering from depression, feelings of desolation, despair, loneliness and losing interest in everything, are common symptoms. Fatal in severe and extreme cases terminating in suicide, even mild clinical depression is a fairly serious and debilitating illness and demands professional attention.

The importance of faith and religion has often been portrayed in mostly non-academic literature, scholarly documents focusing mostly on science alone. Notwithstanding, negative thinking may preclude one from even hoping for, or believing in, anything, altogether. Again, this is one extreme, the other extreme being magical thinking, believing everything will go exactly as planned and as one wishes, simply because one wishes it so, which can translate into delusional thinking (delusions are a symptom of mental illness). Delusions are characterized by persistent belief in something which is clearly false, despite all other evidence to the contrary. Additionally, while it is normal for a child to believe in fairy-tales, it strikes others as odd when adults still hold the same mentality.

From a therapist’s perspective, it may not always be easy to cheer up a person with depression, especially if they themselves hold a cynical view of the world; humanity, after all, has a lot of flaws. For example, Stanley Milgram conducted studies about obedience to authority. The experiments focused on blind obedience to authority and the experimenters rationalized the shocking results (omitted from the present discussion) using the belief that nothing really bad could happen in an experiment. Another study showing a rather dark side of humanity, were Zimbardo’s prison experiments. Power corrupts – and absolute power corrupts absolutely. The famous quote, while debated, may be used to discuss Zimbardo’s prison simulation experiments, a psychological study turned so sour and dangerous, that it had to be interrupted for subjects’ safety sake. A movie based on the story portrays the events pretty accurately.

Psychological studies have shown that religious people tend to be happier. However, as usually is the case with correlations, it remains unclear whether religion makes people happier, or whether happier people tend to be more religious. Also, it may be that attending mass and being church (and therefore often community) oriented, leads one to an altogether healthier and more positive lifestyle, than, say, consistently hanging out at the local bar (not that the two are mutually exclusive).

Positive psychology dictates that how people view things significantly impacts their life outcomes. A similar point was brought in the somewhat esoteric book, and derivative movie, The Secret. The authors claimed that the ‘Law of Attraction’ acted almost like a genie (a magic creature granting wishes) and could warrant anyone anything she or he wanted, provided they thought about it in a certain way. While if understood simplistically, the tale seems a dangerous and misleading one, there is certainly some truth in that extreme negativity rarely helps matters.

Attraction versus rejection. Body language can convey a lot of messages, although these are often misinterpreted. For instance, a person with arms closed is said to be unresponsive to whatever is being proposed or discussed, but at the same time, that individual may simply be cold. 

Aside from positive psychology, other psychological fields, such as social as well as developmental psychology, look at the interaction between one’s emotions and disposition, and occupational, academic and romantic success. For example, theorists Erik Eriksson and Mary Ainsworth both believed that the amount of trust a person feels towards initially their primary caretakers, and then generally those surrounding them, influences the quality not only of their relationships, but of their lives in as a whole.

Where is PETA when you need them? Most cats dislike being dressed up, especially with something around their necks. Obviously, those who did this to the cat pictured above could not care less. Repeated abuse or prolonged unpleasant situations may eventually lead to feline depression. Image: Copyright © Megan Jorgensen.