Why being thankful could save your life
They weren’t feeling symptoms of full-blown heart failure quite yet — shortness of breath, dizziness, heart palpitations — but they had suffered damage, in some cases a heart attack. And left unchecked the symptoms, and other grimmer problems, would come.
So when scientist Laura Redwine and her colleagues asked nearly 200 people in this condition to complete a gratitude questionnaire they weren’t sure quite what to expect.
But when the researchers drew participants’ blood after the questionnaire they found that those who focused on the positive and scored highest on the gratitude scale had lower levels of C-reactive protein and other markers of inflammation in their bloodstream — signs of prospective recovery.
Some of those same people were later asked to keep a diary of three to five things that made them feel thankful every day. After eight weeks, they also had higher heart rate variability — which signals the heart’s ability to respond to stressors — than the non-journaling “controls.”
Gratitude is already the trendy new practice for peak emotional well-being. But studies like Redwine’s are providing evidence.
The National Post spoke to Redwine, an assistant professor in the department of psychiatry at University of California, San Diego, as well as Dr. Robert Emmons, a pioneer in the field of gratitude research at University of California, Davis.
What is gratitude, exactly?
Emmons describes gratitude as “a disposition to notice kindness and benevolence and to give back the goodness received.” Redwine agrees with other researchers, who say it’s part of a “wider life orientation” towards the positive. Both agree gratitude isn’t a one-off thing and that it’s unlikely to have any meaningful or sustainable effects unless experienced frequently.
Prescription for the heart?
It’s not clear what the implications are, if any, for gratitude as a possible non-drug, low-tech intervention for heart failure. “But, if we can reduce inflammation, potentially we could improve their health,” Redwine says. Other research has also shown an association between gratitude and lower blood pressure.
Thank you … for the pain
Studies suggest gratitude helps reduce chronic pain — in part because of how it affects sleep patterns. Emmons’ research, for example, has found that when people practise gratitude journaling they sleep, on average, 30 minutes longer per night, than people who don’t journal.