A Life Hack for Anxiety and Depression: Gratitude

As a trauma therapist who also specializes in working with individuals who struggle with anxiety and depression, I regularly prescribe a gratitude practice to my clients.

Why?

1. Practicing gratitude was a positive change in my life. 

AND

2. Research shows a gratitude practice has a positive impact on mental health. 

What gratitude is, and how it helps with anxiety and depression

Gratitude boils down to acknowledgment. When we take a moment to acknowledge something good, we tend to feel grateful. When we feel grateful, our thoughts are less focused on worry, anxiety, or depression. 

In fact, many a therapist adheres to a research-based model of psychotherapy, asserting that our thought processes influence anxiety and depression. That is, when our thoughts about ourselves or the world are more negative, the more depressed we feel. With anxiety, the more we focus on “what ifs” or worry thoughts, the more anxious we feel. 

In turn, the more we focus on what we’re grateful for, the more gratitude we feel. And gratitude is, quite frankly, a really good feeling. 

Simply put, gratitude is a way to exchange negative (“bad”) feelings for good ones.

*It is important here to point out that as a therapist, I don’t believe it’s in our best interest to label or judge our thoughts or feelings as binary “good/bad.” Feelings are just feelings- they’re informative. Labeling feelings as “bad” isn’t just unhelpful; doing so reinforces problematic thinking patterns. I’m using the term “bad feelings” only to describe a painful affective state. More about that here.

Using gratitude to help manage anxiety and depression is NOT toxic positivity.

It’s important not to mistake gratitude for toxic positivity. Toxic positivity is often used as a strategy to dismiss negative emotions by providing false reassurance. 

Gratitude is not deluding ourselves with false reassurance. Instead, we reflect on the good that exists around us to reassure ourselves that not “everything” is bad or “all” is lost. 

*This kind of all-or-nothing/black-and-white thinking pattern is what we call in cognitive behavioral therapy a “cognitive distortion.” 

In short, a gratitude practice helps us shift our perspective to include the good with the “bad.” Gratitude helps us cultivate a more balanced mindset and thinking patterns. 

Balancing gratitude and validation for a well-rounded perspective

It’s helpful to utilize gratitude and validation to balance the reality of painful situations and avoid skewing our thoughts into a place of denial.

For example, we can be grateful if we are able-bodied while still validating that we may be experiencing pain or sickness, which, frankly, sucks. 

Gratitude coupled with validation can sound like:

“The situation is painful, and I’m learning from it.”

The importance of cultivating gratitude if you struggle with anxiety or depression:

One could argue the human brain is in natural opposition to gratitude. We may need to learn how to cultivate if it doesn’t come naturally.

Evolutionarily speaking, the human brain is primed to seek safety. Because of this safety-seeking response, we focus on real or perceived threats, or negatives, much more than positives. This response is called a ‘negativity bias.’ 

Without a gratitude practice, we can sabotage an overall great day by narrowly focusing on the negative aspects. 

A gratitude practice helps us balance the negatives with the positives for a more balanced perspective.

Furthermore, practicing gratitude reroutes our thoughts into a more positive place. We prime ourselves to look for positivity, so we tend to find it.

We need to practice gratitude to use the more evolved part of our brain to bypass the ancient part of our brain. 

Getting started with a gratitude practice to help with anxiety and depression

While you can set an intention to practice gratitude, you can’t force it. You’ll have a hard time trying to convince yourself that you’re grateful for something you aren’t. If you’re struggling with a mental health issue such as depression, you may need the support of a therapist in addition to your gratitude practice.

To be most effective, I recommend practicing gratitude daily.

There are many ways to cultivate a gratitude practice. You can read about various research-based methods here.

But, my favorite strategy is to use a gratitude journal.

I’ve used this strategy myself, and it helped to change my perspective and pull me out of a funk. I often prescribe it to my clients, and those who take me up on the challenge report significant improvement in anxiety, depression, and PTSD symptoms.

5 benefits of a gratitude journal

1. Ease of use
2. Affordability 
3. Accessibility 
4. Flexibility
5. Research-based

Final tip:

Make gratitude a practice you can fit into your life. That could be as little as setting an intention to say “thank you” to someone once a day or keeping a gratitude log on your phone. 

You don’t want it to feel like a chore. 

You want it to be a fun challenge.

Experiment:

Start with an experiment. Try a gratitude journal out for 30 days and see what changes you notice. Perhaps you’ll notice a shift in anxious thoughts or depressed moods. While not a cure for anxiety and depression, cultivating a gratitude practice can provide some relief.

See for yourself! I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

And if you would like to work together to address anxiety and depression from a clinical approach, such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, with a licensed therapist, please click the link below to get scheduled.