Todays is International Day of Happiness.
No seriously. It is.
Why are you telling me that? Haven’t you seen what’s going on in the world?
Well. Yes I have. And undoubtedly there’s stuff happening that can trigger anxiety. But some of this is how people perceive events.
For every heart wrenching photo of the elderly gentleman confronted with empty supermarket shelves There’s the heart-warming story of boy who used his pocket money to donate toilet roll.
Unhelpful thinking patterns are called cognitive distortions and manifest themselves in a variety of ways:
Overgeneralisation – seeing single negative event as never-ending patterns of defeat.
Negative mental filter – focusing on a single negative detail and dwelling on it
Jumping to conclusions – making a negative interpretation with no definite facts that credibly support your conclusion.
There are many more. And if continued unchecked can lead to enhanced anxiety, depression and poor mental health.
Some people may not be aware they’ve developed these thinking patterns or believe these are fixed. They are not. And can be unlearned.
CBT is a proven therapeutic tool that change help you reframe your thoughts to be more helpful to you. Or for a quick burst of happiness you could go onto the International Day of happiness website https://www.dayofhappiness.net/#new and download the coping calendar.
There are a whole host of ideas and techniques to enhance your happiness
I’ll sign off with wise words of the late great Ken Dodd
‘Oh, happiness, happiness, the greatest gift that I possess.’
Stay safe. And happy.
