While it stands to reason that healthy people are happier, recent research indicates that people who are happy and satisfied with their lives may be healthier. A study published in the American Journal of Health Promotion indicates that increased happiness can improve health in as little as three years. Researchers concluded that the positive impacts on health were independent of other factors such as smoking, physical activity, alcohol consumption and age.

The study looked at data collected from two Australian surveys done in 2001 and 2004. The surveys of about 10,000 adults included questions about long-term health conditions and physical health as well as questions to determine happiness and life satisfaction. Happiness and life satisfaction were found to be associated with excellent, very good or good health, the absence of long-term health problems, and improved physical health three years later. Another study on happiness and health showed that happiness can prevent illness and that happy people live longer.

Psychologists now are focusing on positive psychology which looks at traits that allow people to live fulfilled lives and at strengths and virtues that contribute to happiness. The Oxford University Press has published Character Strengths and Virtues: A Handbook and Classification, an 800-page text by Christopher Peterson, PhD, and Martin E. P. Seligman, PhD, that categorizes and analyzes the 24 key traits associated with mental health and happiness. It is intended to be the counterpart to the traditional text of psychiatric medicine, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, that focuses on psychiatric disorders such as depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Instead of looking only at what goes wrong when people become anxious or depressed, many psychologists feel it is time to look at what goes right for people who are happy and well-adjusted. Peterson and Seligman spent three years working with a team of experts to identify traits that are shared and valued across cultures, poring over psychiatry journals, religious texts, works of philosophers and other writings. In an effort to make their findings applicable to psychiatry, they have published Authentic Happiness: Using the New Positive Psychology to Realize Your Potential for Lasting Fulfillment and have written a 240-item questionnaire designed to identify strengths and virtues. It is hoped that the information gathered by the questionnaire can help the individual cultivate their positive qualities to achieve greater happiness and fulfillment. BE HEALTHY, BE HAPPY!

References: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/08/080830161436.htm, http://living.health.com/2008/05/05/a-new-prescription-for-happiness/.

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