HELLO Everyone!
I hope this week has treated you well.
This week I am going to continue to talk about what makes us genuinely happy. I thought I’d focus on gratitude today as it has helped many of my clients, as well as, improved my own quality of life.
Mountains of research have determined that gratitude is directly linked to overall life satisfaction and happiness. I ask all my clients (especially those in drug recovery) to make gratitude lists and every week I watch them smile a bit more, appreciating the small things and letting the even smaller things go.

What is gratitude?
Gratitude is simply an appreciation for what you have. It is about being thankful for what you were given rather than being resentful for what you were not. It makes us more optimistic, less materialistic, and less self-centered while increasing our self-esteem, confidence and empathy.
Gratitude helps us to experience a wider range of positive emotions, allows us to reminisce on good memories, improves our relationships, and both mental and physical health.

How can being grateful help us?
Studies show that people who report being grateful for their health (of any kind) are more likely to take care of it. They are more likely to eat, sleep and exercise well, more so than the rest of the population. In terms of mental health, gratitude minimises jealously, envy, anger and regret. Instead, it promotes self-esteem and confidence as it reduces social comparisons. If you are grateful and satisfied with what you have, you take nothing for granted and are more likely to be happy for those around you.

This, of course, further benefits our relationships. A specific study showed that couples who express gratitude to each other are less likely to get divorced. This is due to the appreciation of course but it is mainly because if one expresses gratitude, the other is more willing and patient to listen to criticism as well.

For working relationships, supervisors who express gratitude to their employees report harder working, motivated and focused staff.
Students who express gratitude in journals are more likely to have better grades, play a team sport and have a wider social circle and support system.

Findings also prove that gratitude improves goal achievement. Participants were asked to write a list of short-term goals they would like to achieve over the following two months. Only half were asked to write daily gratitude lists. Those that did write the list were more successful in accomplishing their goals.

Gratitude can even minimise the possibility of developing mental illnesses. A 2006 study conducted on War Veterans found that those who wrote gratitude lists were less likely to develop Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) than those who did not.

Research also shows physical symptoms of gratitude. Those who make gratitude lists and therefore experience those wider range of positive emotions have overall better immune function. Specifically, there have lower rates of high or low blood sugar, blood pressure, heart or coronary diseases as well as the outcome of cancer treatments.

What can we do to be more grateful in life?
This is a really simple process. It is about taking a few minutes to be thankful for what is good in your life, rather than complain about what you don’t have or what you want. You can be grateful for absolutely anything. From your family and friends to the water on this earth.

Start a gratitude list right now with just three things you are grateful for. Every day, write one new thing and then re- read the entire list. Every day! This really allows us to literally count our blessings.
You can also keep a full journal jotting down good events that happened throughout the day. This develops positive mental health through good memories and appreciation.

Write thank you notes expressing your appreciation for anything special anyone has done for you. I know we are in the digital era and texting is more likely but there is just something wonderful about old fashioned notes. Showing appreciation for others allows us to easier show it to ourselves.
Pray to whatever higher power you choose. People commonly use prayer to develop and nurture gratitude.

Develop and stick to a practice. When you are having dinner with your loved ones, make it a habit of everyone saying one thing they are grateful for. Guyana doesn’t celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday but if you do this, every day can be Thanksgiving.
A good way to encourage gratitude is to imagine our lives without what we have. We have to remember that there will always be someone who has less and more than we do. Put things into perspective.

Gratitude is also increased when we stop complaining. Complaining is natural to us as human beings (for me especially I believe), but it doesn’t have to be. We can pay attention to our words in an attempt to improve them and subsequently our mood and self-esteem. Replace it with a more positive/ optimistic out-look. Example, if your bus is late one day and you’re late for somewhere, rather than complaining, maybe be grateful that it only happened once that week. All complaining does is allow us to relive the situation as well as the stress and frustration that came along with it.

It is helpful to view gratitude as a very successful coping mechanism. It doesn’t matter where the stress is coming from- family, school, relationships, work etc, gratitude can help them all.

Thank You for reading. Please keep sending any topics you’d like to talk about to caitlinvieira@gmail.com , or come in to see me at:

Georgetown Public Hospital: Psychiatric Department:
Monday- Friday – 8am- 12pm

Woodlands Hospital: Outpatient Department
Drug and Alcohol group meetings – Mondays 4:15
Good mental health group meetings- Wednesdays 4:15
Suicide Prevention Helpline numbers: 223-0001, 223-0009, 623-4444, 600-7896

Say Yes to Life and No to Drugs! Always