MINDING OURSELVES The Psychology of Health, Happiness and Resilience

Shane Martin C.Psychol.Ps.,S.I.

• Open-mindedness

• Space

• Time-out

• Hearing ourselves

• Respecting each other’s privacy

• No need for personal sharing

• Support

The three promises

• Evidence-based strategies

• Will cost you nothing

• You can start NOW!

Web: www.moodwatchers.com

Email: moodwatchers@eircom.net

Moodwatchers is on Facebook

Moodwatchers blog

Published by Orpen Press

€12.95£11.90

Available in all bookstores

Easons, Waterstones,

Amazon,Kindle

What matters?

HEALTH

(c) moodwatchers

What matters?

HAPPINESS

What matters?

MONEY?

What matters?

BOUNCIBILITY

Happiness counts……..• Happier people live longer

• Happier children learn better

• Happier people encounter less disease

• Happier employees last longer in their jobs and are more loyal to their work

Three undeniable realities

• We are all vulnerable

• We will all face challenges, crises

• We underestimate our own potential to cope during the challenging times

(c) moodwatchers

What as psychology researched?

• Illness

• What is wrong with people

• Why people fall down

(c) moodwatchers

What does psychology provide?

• Interventions for people when they have symptoms

• Assessment and reports about what is wrong and what is causing it

• Theories for failure rather than success

• Tests to see how weak you are, how low your mood is, how anxious or stressed you are?

• Science is as good as it gets

• Science can be applied to help us understand what makes us healthier and happier

• Authentic happiness

• What keeps us strong during the challenging times?

• What is right about us?

• Harnessing inner-strengths

• - 8 to 0 but also 2+ to 8+

YOUR PRECIOUS LIFE:How to Live it Well

Shane Martin C.Psychol.Ps.S.Iwww.moodwatchers.com

Web: www.moodwatchers.com

Resources section ‘Like’ Moodwatchers (short written pieces about well being etc)

@moodwatchers

Moodwatchers blog

Published by Orpen Press

€12.95£11.90

Available in all bookstores

Easons, Waterstones,

Amazon,Kindle

What matters?

HEALTH

(c) moodwatchers

What matters?

HAPPINESS

What matters?

MONEY?

What matters?

BOUNCIBILITY

Reminding you of the three promises

• Evidence-based

• Will cost you nothing

• Can be implemented immediately

● Science is as good as it gets

● Science can be applied to help us understand what makes us healthier and happier

● What keeps us standing during challenging times

8 tips for a better quality of life

Scientifically validated for enhancing health and happiness

THIS IS FOR YOU!!

1. Strive to be a rational thinker

The Stress Factor● A degree of stress is helpful

●We all bark and bite!!

● Stressful events merit stress.

● Prolonged stress is bad for us

●Unhealthy stress eats away at our health and happiness

INTERNAL DIALOGUEAUTOMATIC SELF-TALK

Our private world of thoughts, our interpretation of past and present, our

predictions for the future are very powerful influences on mood

● Is there another way of making sense of this?

● Am I right to be as annoyed as I am?

● Would this annoy you as much as it’s annoying me?

● Does it really matter?

● Have I got good advice or am I making conclusions on my own?

● Am I my own best or worst coach?

Consulting / Practical advice and solutions

Seeking the evidence before your decide

Watch out for KNOW-ALL-ISM

The power of questions

Not to be governed by panic

2. Practise being compassionate

● The clinical benefits of kind acts

● Putting our worries into context

● Physiological rewards

● Seeing the world

Self-compassion● Self-blame

● Over analysing

● Exclusive rights to stress

● You're not on your own!

3. Be and stay social

● Psychologists have shown that social ties and increased contact with family and friends are associated with a lower risk of illness

● What’s more, a 2010 meta-analysis of 148 studies showed that social connection doesn’t just help us survive health problems but the lack of it causes them

(Williams, 2011)

● Being social – staying social● The powerful resource of family● Keeping friends● Making new friends● The greatest friend of depression is

solitude● Getting away from it all● Joining clubs and organisations● Volunteering

4. Cultivate a sense of gratitude

● Counting our blessings● Looking at what is right about our

lives● Celebrating all the things that we

have rather than always talking about the things we don’t have

● Digging deep● Savouring golden moments or days

5. Bask in the glory of ‘NOW’!

● Respecting the past but not being governed by it

● Not letting the past hold you back

● Over anxious about the future

● Today is a gift

● Make today count!

6. Don’t let the ‘FLOW’ go!

● Doing the things we love best● Doing the things we are best at● Starting new things● Switching the channel● Being ‘stretched’

TWO NEW SYNDROMES

● SERIOUS BORING PERSON SYNDROME

● SERIOUS BUSY PERSON SYNDROME

7. Invest in your spirituality

● Religiousness or spirituality?● Sense of purpose● It’s not all about me!● Life as a journey● The benefits of prayer● Investing in our spirituality:● MINDFULNESS/ MEDITATION

8. Mind your body: Diet, Exercise, Sleep

9. Keep laughing

“Laughing one hundred times amounts to the same exercise as riding a stationary bike for fifteen minutes. Five minutes of intense laughter can double the heart rate. Three minutes of laughter is equivalent to three minutes on a rowing machine. Laughter stimulates circulation, tones muscles, energises lungs and stimulates endorphins in the immune system.”

Dr William Fry (Stanford University)

Web: www.moodwatchers.com

Email: moodwatchers@eircom.net

Moodwatchers is on Facebook

Moodwatchers blog

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF ‘BOUNCIBILITY’ : Becoming more resilient

Shane Martin C.Psychol.Ps.S.I.

Web: www.moodwatchers.com

Web: www.moodwatchers.com

Resources section ‘Like’ Moodwatchers (short written pieces about well being etc)

@moodwatchers

Moodwatchers blog

People slipping for years……

• No time to think

• Rushing and fussing

• Connecting with yourself, others and your world

What we all need

• A toolbox for coping in crisis

• How not to take a hit lessons in school

• The science of the survivor

• How to thrive despite adversity

What is resilience?

“Resilience is the process of, capacity for, or outcome of successful adaption despite challenging or threatening circumstances”

(Master, Best & Garmezy, 1990)

What is resilience? “More than education, more than experience, more than training, a person’s level of resilience will determine who succeeds and who fails. That’s true in the cancer ward, it’s true in the Olympics, and its true in the boardroom.”

Dean Becker, Harvard Business Review

GREAT NEWS

• It can be learned

• New research

• New interventions (particularly for children)

• Same interventions improve resilience in adults

GREAT NEWS

• Doesn’t mean that you have to become as hard as nails

• We underestimate our potential to cope better through crisis and grow stronger

• It’s the best option! - to cope and grow stronger

Resilience• A unique journey

• Unique for each person

• Certain factors are consistently shown to be important

8 Tips for greater resilience1. EMOTIONAL AWARENESS The ability to identify your feelings and express your emotions, and when necessary, the ability to control your feelings (Reivich & Shatte, 2002)

• Gender differences?

• Not being governed by your emotions

• Comfortable with your feelings and expressing them

• Allowing for your emotional state

• Not becoming ‘stuck’ in your emotions

• There is a separation between who you are at your core and what you are going through

• Not being consumed by crisis

2. AVOID PANIC

Highly resilient people are able to tolerate ambiguity so they don’t rush to make decisions. They sit back and look at things in a thoughtful way before acting

• The need for rational thinking – thinking straight

• Being objective, neutral and fair-minded

• Being openminded

• Opening yourself up to advice

The Role of Thinking within Stress

● Bias thinking

● Irrational thinking

● Private thinking

● Powerful thinking

INTERNAL DIALOGUEAUTOMATIC SELF-TALK

• Our private world of thoughts, our interpretation of past and present, our predictions for the future

are very powerful influences on mood

Consulting / Practical advice and solutions

Watch out for KNOW-ALL-ISM

The power of questions

Doing your own thinking

Not to be governed by panic

3. EMPATHY

The ability to read and understand the emotions of others

• Understand how your situation affects others

• Seeing others, supporting others

• Enhancing our sense of family/ team

• Building relationships

Fostering kindness/compassion.......

● The clinical benefits of kind acts

● Putting our worries into context

● Physiological rewards

● Seeing the world

Cultivating a compassionate response

● You share imperfection with your fellow beings

● We're all stressed

● We all make mistakes

● Worse things have happened others

● You need to ‘mind’ yourself not ‘hammer’ yourself

4. SELF-CARE

• Running health protective strategies while in crisis

• Doing what is good for us whether we feel like it or not

• Boxing cleverly

5. OPTIMISM

• Having an optimistic ‘explanatory’ style

• Realistic optimism

• Optimism which facilitates problem-solving

• ‘wed to reality’

• Engaging with the optimist

• Contemplating the optimistic view

6. SITUATION ANALYSIS

This means the ability to think comprehensively about the problems /challenges you confront.

Looking at problems from many perspectives, considering many factors and consulting with others

• Seeking the best possible advice

• Adhering to that advice

7. SOCIAL CONNECTIVITY

• People need people • Remaining social/keeping friends • The powerful resource of family • The crucial role of the 'significant other' • Keeping good company / leaning on resilient people • Taking all the help you can get • Sustaining team/family • Counselling

• Psychologists have shown that social ties and increased contact with family and friends are associated with a lower risk of illness

• What’s more, a 2010 meta-analysis of 148 studies showed that social connection doesn’t just help us survive health problems but the lack of it causes them

(Williams, 2011)

8. PRAYER/FAITH

● Spirituality/religiousness ● Sense of purpose ● It’s not all about me! ● Life as a journey ● Silence ● The benefits of prayer ● Investing in our spirituality: ● MINDFULNESS

9. LAUGHTER

• The gift of humour

• Humour therapy

• Hanging around with good humoured people

“Laughing one hundred times amounts to the same exercise as riding a stationary bike for fifteen minutes. Five minutes of intense laughter can double the heart rate. Three minutes of laughter is equivalent to three minutes on a rowing machine. Laughter stimulates circulation, tones muscles, energises lungs and stimulates endorphins in the immune system.”

Dr William Fry (Stanford University)

• Not an exhaustive list • Don’t need to score high in them all to be given

the ‘stamp of resilience’ • Major progress occurs by even considering which

of the factors we are strong at and playing to these strengths as much as possible

• Every factor can be worked on