4 Things Psychologists Do Every Day To Feel Happier

“Here are some great tips to lift your mood!”

— Dr. Dale

From 4 Things Psychologists Do Every Day To Feel Happier

While there’s no one secret to happiness, regular self care can go a long way towards boosting your mood. People find joy in different places, so the key is to identify healthy habits that please you — and make time for them daily.

“As Aristotle put it, ‘Happiness is an activity’,” says Jason Wheeler, PhD, a psychoanalyst in New York City. “Lots of things in life just happen to us, but many other things we have to do, and being happy is one of them.”

So what do mental health experts do to harness happiness? We asked three therapists to share the everyday self-care strategies that help them stay positive and grounded, even during times of stress. Here, four of their get-happy habits to try for yourself.

1. Be mindful

The term “mindfulness” probably conjures up images of yoga or quiet meditation, but Wheeler says it’s possible to embrace this way of thinking while doing many different forms of exercise. His mind-body workout of choice is swimming, since the repetitive motions naturally lend themselves to mindful thinking.

“To swim well, I must concentrate just on what I am doing,” he explains. “I exist from stroke to stroke, from breath to breath.”

Plus, swimming is a terrific low-impact workout. “When I’m done, I don’t feel sore, but refreshed and energized,” Wheeler says, adding that 30 minutes to an hour of swimming is the perfect meditative break during a busy day.

2. Take notes

Don’t just get grateful at Thanksgiving. Studies show that expressing gratitude can lead to benefits like better sleep and lower risk of depression. And unsurprisingly, mental health experts are all about it.

“If I’m getting down or feeling anxious, I’ll make a list of things that I’m grateful for,” San Antonio-based therapist Kasi Howard, PsyD, tells Health. “It flips my mindset and keeps me from ruminating on things that are stressful, or from focusing on the negative. Plus, it’s a big mood lifter.”

Ready to try it for yourself? Our gratitude challenge will have you feeling happier and more appreciative in just 21 days.

Studies show that expressing gratitude can lead to benefits like better sleep and lower risk of depression.

3. Sweat it out

Another proven happiness-booster? Cardio workouts. “Running is a source of sanity for me,” says Howard. “Not only is it my stress relief, it’s also when I think of ideas.”

There’s a scientific reason why Howard feels particularly sunny after a sweat session. Exercise causes a spike in adrenaline throughout the body, which is followed by a release of mood-boosting endorphins. And even relatively small amounts of exercise can make a difference; one recent study found that light physical activity was associated with a greater emotional benefit compared to moderate and high-intensity exercise. Sweat, smile, repeat.

4. Connect with others

“I spend a little quiet time with my husband every day talking about ‘us,’” says Gail Saltz, MD, Health’s contributing psychology editor. “Doing so keeps our relationship strong, and that makes me happy.”

Saltz and her hubby may be onto something. Communication is key in all relationships, especially romantic ones. In a 2015 study of newlywed couples published in the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, researchers found that wives who perceived their husbands to be habitually suppressing their emotions reported lower marriage quality over time. So go ahead, express yourself.

Eat These Common Foods to Cut Your Risk Of Colon Cancer

“Worth noting!”

— Dr. Dale

From Eat These Common Foods to Cut Your Risk Of Colon Cancer

You know whole grains are good for your heart, but they may have another benefit, too, according to a new report from the World Cancer Research Fund and the American Institute for Cancer Research.

After reviewing six studies in a meta-analysis, which included 8,320 cases, researchers concluded that eating at least 90 grams of whole grains per day can slash your colon cancer risk by 17 percent.

That’s a pretty big deal, since colorectal cancer is the third most diagnosed cancer in men, making it the second leading cause of cancer death, according to the American Cancer Society (ACS).

And colon cancer is quickly on the rise in young people. People born in 1990 have double the risk of colon cancer and quadruple the risk of rectal cancer than people born in 1950, a study from the ACS found.

So, how can eating oats and brown rice help prevent colon cancer from forming in the first place? Whole grains are a great source of dietary fiber, which helps reduce insulin resistance—or the inability for your body to absorb blood sugar, causing it to accumulate—which is a known risk factor of colon cancer. Fiber also keeps you regular, which is important, since passing waste quickly reduces the chances of cancer-causing mutations to develop.

Plus, the bran and germ of your grains are packed with certain anti-carcinogenic compounds, like vitamin E, selenium copper, and zinc, the report states.

To get the best bang for your nutritional buck, load up your plate with oatmeal, whole wheat bread, and brown or wild rice, which are all touted by the American Heart Association. 

Just bear in mind your diet can only take you so far. Once you hit 50, you should start getting screened for colon cancer regularly, but only a little more than half of people who should get tested actually do so, according to the ACS.

Yet, colonoscopies can save your life, since a majority of people who are diagnosed with early-stage colon cancer are cured. If you have a first-degree family member that suffered from colon cancer, then you should start screenings at 40, or 10 years younger than when they were diagnosed, the American Academy of Gastroenterology recommends.

And if you experience the telltale symptoms—like blood in your stool, abdominal cramping, and persistent constipation or diarrhea—tell your doctor, stat. He or she may recommend a colonoscopy to check what's up.

Thousands Of Americans Still Die Of AIDS Every Year

“Very educational. ”

— Dr. Dale

From Thousands Of Americans Still Die Of AIDS Every Year

Yet antiretroviral therapy can turn the deadly disease into a manageable chronic condition.

Antiretroviral therapy has transformed HIV from a death sentence to a manageable chronic condition for many. Yet as the death of 41-year-old Broadway composer Michael Friedman this past Saturday reminds us, thousands of Americans still die every year from HIV/AIDS.

In 2014, the last year for which these data are available, 12,333 Americans with HIV died of any cause, and 6,721 of them died from causes directly attributable to HIV. 

“AIDS has certainly not gone away,” said Dr. Jeffrey Klausner, a professor of medicine and public health at the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine. “At an average of 20 deaths a day, it’s something that’s occurring regularly.”

An estimated 1.1 million people in the U.S. are living with the disease, although about 15 percent of them don’t know they have it. But HIV/AIDS doesn’t draw the media attention it once did.

“We need to continue to be aware, continue to talk about it and continue to advocate for prevention and treatment resources,” Klausner said.

To Prevent And To Heal 

The message from public health officials is clear: If you test positive for HIV, get into treatment right away. Taking antiretroviral medicines every day can bring HIV levels in a person’s body so low as to be almost undetectable, which drastically reduces the chances of passing the virus to someone else.

At the same time, lower HIV levels drastically reduce the chances that you’ll die of HIV/AIDS complications. Untreated HIV weakens the immune system, leaving a person more susceptible to other infections and cancer. The virus also keeps the body in a state of chronic inflammation, which increases the risk of heart disease, stroke and dementia.

Getting into treatment as soon as possible is key to preventing HIV from wreaking havoc on the body. Federal funds are available for those who can’t afford medication. But still not everyone gets tested soon enough, obtains the medication and/or manages to take it daily. 

The more pills skipped, the more patients run the risk that their virus levels will spike. In rare cases, they may even become resistant to the antiretroviral medication.

“Treatment is great for those who can access it early and take it every day, there’s no question about it,” said Dr. Steven Deeks, professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. “But a lot of people just cannot get the drugs, or when they do, they can’t take them for a variety of reasons.”

Reasons for not taking medication or missing checkups range from the mundane (too busy, difficulty in scheduling appointments) to the alarming (homelessness, lack of transportation, depression and shame). Many people who need care also struggle with mental illness and substance abuse. 

“So in countries like Switzerland, where there’s a lot less poverty and they have a health care system that delivers these drugs universally, they’re doing better than the U.S., where we have a tremendous amount of social and economic issues that get in the way,” said Deeks. 

The People Most At Risk

AIDS-related deaths are down around the world ― from about 1.9 million in 2005 to about 1 million in 2016. While the numbers are also dropping in the U.S., the country’s staggering socioeconomic inequality and lack of universal health care means that it still outpaces other wealthy developed nations in new HIV infections and falls behind them in widespread testing and treatment.

In the U.S., 39,513 people were diagnosed with HIV in 2015, the last year for which that number is available. The same year, only 29,747 people were diagnosed with HIV in the 31 countries that make up the European Economic Area and whose combined populations are about 200 million more than the U.S. population. 

Klausner pointed to “this great imbalance of the haves and have-nots” in explaining why the American rates of HIV infection and AIDS deaths are still so bad.

In 2015, about half of all new HIV diagnoses in the U.S. were among people living in the South, which is home to some of America’s poorest citizens and offers the least access to affordable health care. In addition to having the highest rates of new HIV diagnoses and HIV-related deaths, the South is burdened with high rates of diabetes and cancer, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notes. 

New HIV diagnoses in 2015 were also concentrated among gay and bisexual men of all races and among black straight women.

“We still have major gaps in our ability to address certain populations, particularly in southeastern parts of the U.S., and particularly among African Americans,” Klausner said.

Subpopulations representing 2 percent or less of HIV diagnoses are not reflected in this chart. The abbreviation “MSM” here stands for men who have sex with other men.

How To Stop More Diagnoses And Deaths

One way to stem the tide of new HIV infections in the U.S. would be to present people who get tested with two pathways, Klausner said. If they test positive, they should receive treatment right away. If they test negative, doctors should still talk with them about a plan to forestall future HIV infection ― potentially including taking a medication like PrEP that substantially lowers the risks of contracting the disease.

While this approach is standard at publicly funded clinics, Klausner said, private-sector health care ― which serves most Americans ― has been slow to adopt such prophylactic medicine. 

“While we say HIV is manageable and AIDS is preventable, it’s much better to prevent someone from getting HIV in the first place,” he said.

Doctors, nurses and other clinic staff should also recognize how much their actions affect patients’ will and ability to follow a treatment plan. A 2015 qualitative study conducted by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania found that simple things like positive relationships with clinic staff, patient-friendly services such as arranging transportation, and even calls to remind people of an appointment were a big factor in helping patients stay on their regimen.