When are we the most happy in life?
According to two researchers we reach our minimum in mid-life. Hmm, but what about the maximum? It seems that in terms of unhappiness, we take a big dip between the ages of 36 and 52. So this should be good news for young people.
The questions of happiness and life stages were studied by David G. Blanchflower Department of Economics, Dartmouth College, USA and Andrew J. Oswald, Warwick University, Coventry, UK. Their answers were presented recently in the Journal of Social Science and Medicine. They found that “psychological well-being is U-shaped through life; that is happiness reaches its minimum — on both sides of the Atlantic and for both males and females — in middle age. ” They collected data on 500,000 randomly sampled Americans and West Europeans. Life satisfaction
Happiness: While the research indicates unhappiness in mid-life, it doesn’t have to be that way. Dr. Happiness believes that happiness is always within our reach as reported in this New York Times article. Dr. Happiness
Essentially we all have a choice between happiness over hostility. When challenged with a situation that makes your blood boil, think of the wise advice from Redford Williams, M.D., of Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, who uncovered the link between heart disease and the hostility and anger of Type A behavior.
Hostility: When you find yourself in a situation that triggers hostility and anger, Dr. Williams suggests that you ask yourself if:
- The situation is important enough to be worth continuing your attention
- Your reaction is appropriate to the situation, and
- You can change the situation.
Most times, he notes, the answer to all three questions will be, “NO.” So find alternative responses, and back off.
Brushing off anger is not only beneficial to your heart and health, but also your relationships.
Laugh it off: Here is another method, find a way to laugh it off. You know that your mood is better after you’ve had a good laugh, but did you know that your health may improve, too?
Studies reported by Lee Berk, M.D., a neurologist at Loma Linda University in California, and his team, as well as other researchers, show that laughter prompts changes in the body that may help the immune and endocrine systems to function better.
Laughter increases the number and activity of cells that help us fight disease and decreases stress-related hormones. And a laughter bonus is that it’s contagious, according to Robert Provine, Ph.D., of the University of Maryland. When you hear other people laugh, you tend to laugh too. Provine suggests that laughter does something special to our brains to trigger the laugh sounds in us.
If you don’t believe that laughter is contagious, watch a sitcom and listen to the laugh track. Or just click on this link…
Copyright 2008 Rita Watson