It is said that human desire is like seawater, and the more you drink, the more thirsty you become. To fill it with substance, happiness always becomes an unreachable blue bird. To increase your long-term well-being and happiness, you should do activities that can alleviate depression and anxiety and improve your mental health.
Many people try to achieve happiness by accumulating more things in life. In other words, they think that having a higher income or having a stable family life will make them happy. However, these things are temporary and do not give you true happiness.
Psychologists call this phenomenonwheel of pleasure(hedonic treadmill)’. For example, when you get a promotion at work, you feel happy, but this feeling is temporary. If you want to get happiness from material things, you have to constantly run without a destination, like a person running on a treadmill.becomes Here are five unexpected ways to increase your long-term well-being and happiness.
◆ Volunteering, the best way for mental health
A review of more than 40 studies conducted over 20 years found that volunteering was more important than any other activity in promoting mental health. People who participated in various volunteer activities had a reduced risk of depression and a higher overall satisfaction with life. It has even been found to reduce the risk of death from physical illness caused by mental distress.
◆ Meditation to Reduce Depression and Anxiety
Meditation can help alleviate symptoms of depression and anxiety. Let’s get out of the pain of the mind through meditation and return to a pure state of mind without any distortion. In a more stable mind than usual, happiness increases, and in confidence, performance in reality increases.
◆ Outdoor activities reduce stress hormones
One study found that students who spent two nights in a wooded area had significantly lower cortisol levels than those who spent two nights in the city. Cortisol responds to acute stresssecreted by the adrenal cortex of the kidneys stress hormonesam.
◆ Cultural activities that increase life satisfaction
A Norwegian study of 50,000 people on anxiety, depressive symptoms, and life satisfaction found an interesting association. People who engage in more cultural activities, such as exercising or clubbing, have lower levels of anxiety and depression, as well as greater satisfaction with their overall quality of life, the study found.
◆ Economic expenditures of good will, such as donations
According to the results of a related study published in 2008, after giving money envelopes to survey subjects, half of the money contained was for themselves, and the other half was used for charitable donations or buying gifts for people they knew. As a result, compared to before receiving the envelope, happiness levels reached the highest level after spending all the money received. In particular, economic spending for others, such as donations, gives unexpected happiness.
