A Medium article "The power of positive memories" discusses how happy memories help against depression and how depression often is accompanied by a failure to remember happy times:
- A 2017 study used the famous hand-in-cold-water test for stress generation. Before the test people had been asked to list a number of memories - both positive and neutral. When during the test they were asked to focus on positive memories they produced less cortisol during the test. Brain scans showed that this was accompanied by increased activity in the brain’s prefrontal cortex — areas involved in emotion regulation and “cognitive control”.
- It brings us in CBT territory: Over time, the activation of these negative mental pathways strengthens them; meanwhile, positive mental pathways grow weaker as they lie dormant. Based on this competitive memory theory, some researchers have explored whether positive memory training can help protect people who are at high risk for depression. A 2018 study from a group of U.K. researchers found that training people to recall happy memories led to a significant drop in depression scores. The people in the study first learned to identify their negative self-appraisals, such as thoughts of worthlessness. Next, they recalled specific occasions when they’d demonstrated worth, or when their behavior otherwise refuted their negative self-talk. Over time, reliving these positive memories seemed to reduce the brain’s tendency to fire up its negative thought pathways.
- Positive thinking helps too: Multiple studies have found that taking time each day or week to think about the things in life for which one is grateful can improve mental health outcomes and well-being. “Whether stemming from our own internal thoughts or the daily news headlines, we are exposed to a constant drip of negativity,” says Robert Emmons, a gratitude researcher and professor of psychology at the University of California, Davis. Recalling happy memories — and creating new ones through positive experiences — can fuel feelings of gratitude and turn off the spigot of negativity, he says.
- The old wisdom that buying experiences is more helpful than buying things comes along too.
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