Positive emotions, calm feelings, warm connections, and good thoughts all contribute to excellent health. Healthy people typically enjoy good mental attitudes. The opposite is also true—namely, sad folks have more disease and misery.
Physicians, myself included, have been trained to prescribe pills and in some cases ancillary therapies such as rehabilitation or, less frequently, prevention programs. Going forward, in addition to traditional medications, could patients receive a prescription for health and happiness that would potentially add therapeutic impact or at least provide some emotional solace when needed?
The answer is yes—one physician is already prescribing happiness. “Ten Happiness Practices a Doctor Prescribes to His Patients” is a low-tech, highly effective way to bring support without side-effects according to Dr. Leif Hass, a family medicine physician and hospitalist in Oakland, California. He carries an old-fashioned prescription pad and checks off a few of ten pre-printed suggestions. This action is in addition to electronically prescribing conventional medications.
The following are Dr. Hass’s ten easy suggestions, all helpful for emotional and physical well-being:
- Take some deep breaths, which assist the body to relax, heart rate to decrease, and blood pressure to drop. Calming the mind and body is always beneficial. Decreasing an inappropriate adrenaline surge is a good idea.
- Reconnect with an old friend. Loneliness has the same mortality as obesity and is a major risk factor for dying prematurely. Social pain is an alert mechanism to seek connections, probably with an evolutionary benefit because groups of people are more likely to live longer than isolated hermits. Concerningly, COVID has exacerbated the misery of loneliness
- Give someone a hug. Human touch is therapeutic, causing endorphins to release while decreasing the stress hormones of cortisone and adrenalin. From birth onward to old age, touching is therapeutic.
- Help a friend in need and/or volunteer. The helper can benefit as much or more than the beneficiary. Kindness generates a response in your brain, releasing oxytocin, a neurotransmitter. This chemical substance increases connectedness and attachment. Oxytocin also lowers blood pressure, dilates blood vessels, and can improve cardiovascular health.
- Write notes and express appreciation. Grateful people are more stress-resistant and have a higher sense of self-worth.Conquering envy, resentment, regret, and negative emotions can be aided by expressing gratitude, also encouraging us to celebrate the present.
- Sing in the shower, hum a tune, or catch a melody that makes you happy. Cheerful people subconsciously may have “playlists” or signature songs that pop on in their heads. The popular songs of our teenage years stay with us for life; when recalled and replayed, the music interacts with our moods, bringing delight and comfort.
- Dancing to your favorite song has the positive effect of boosting mood and well-being. Physical motion stimulates endorphins, which combined with singing and recalling good memories have multiple synergistic benefits.
- Take a walk in a beautiful place. Stimulating the senses—sight, smell, sound—all come together with physical motion that can be performed almost anywhere. While walking in nature is outstanding, anyone with mobility can usually find a safe place to get some steps in.
- Forgive someone—not by denying that wrong actions were hurtful, but rather by letting go of anger and other unhealthy cognitive behaviors. Moving-on is difficult, but the benefits are profound. Removing stress and depression improves sleep and relationships.
- Be kind to yourself by going easy on self-criticism. Get over self-blame, improve your confidence, become a self-coach—these activities will add years of healthy and happy life.
Pick what works for you from the above suggestions. You don’t need a physician’s prescription; you can self-prescribe. Few people can effectively embrace all ten behaviors, but most everyone can adopt some of them. Just remind yourself to breathe, reconnect, help, share, walk, sing, dance, write, and forgive—all are readily available. Meanwhile, professionals of all types can add helpful, risk-free suggestions to their therapeutic armamentarium.