People often underestimate the long-term impact of practicing brief, positive activities, Lyubomirsky said. For example, if a person gets 15 minutes of positive emotions from counting her blessings, she may muster the energy to attend the art class she'd long considered attending, and, while in class, might meet a friend who becomes a companion and confidant for years to come. In this way, even momentary positive feelings can build long-term social, psychological, intellectual, and physical skills and reserves.
The researchers' review of brain imaging studies also led them to theorize that PAIs may act to boost the dampened reward/pleasure circuit mechanisms and reverse apathy -- a key benefit that does not usually arise from treatment with medication alone.
"The positive activities themselves aren't really new," said Layous, the paper's lead author. "After all, humans have been counting their blessings, dreaming optimistically, writing thank you notes, and doing acts of kindness for thousands of years. What's new is the scientific rigor that researchers have applied to measuring benefits and understanding why they work."
A major benefit of positive activities is that they are simple to practice and inexpensive to deliver.
"If we're serious about tackling a problem as large as depression, we should be as concerned about the scalability of our solutions as much as their potency," Chancellor said,
While PAIs appear to be a potentially promising therapy for mild forms of depression," Doraiswamy cautioned, "they have not yet been fully studied in people with moderate to severe forms of depression. We need further studies before they can be applied to help such patients." http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/07/110729175803.htm
The researchers' review of brain imaging studies also led them to theorize that PAIs may act to boost the dampened reward/pleasure circuit mechanisms and reverse apathy -- a key benefit that does not usually arise from treatment with medication alone.
"The positive activities themselves aren't really new," said Layous, the paper's lead author. "After all, humans have been counting their blessings, dreaming optimistically, writing thank you notes, and doing acts of kindness for thousands of years. What's new is the scientific rigor that researchers have applied to measuring benefits and understanding why they work."
A major benefit of positive activities is that they are simple to practice and inexpensive to deliver.
"If we're serious about tackling a problem as large as depression, we should be as concerned about the scalability of our solutions as much as their potency," Chancellor said,
While PAIs appear to be a potentially promising therapy for mild forms of depression," Doraiswamy cautioned, "they have not yet been fully studied in people with moderate to severe forms of depression. We need further studies before they can be applied to help such patients." http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/07/110729175803.htm
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