Happiness exercises boost moods of those recovering from addiction says MGH study
Short writing exercises reliving happy moments boosted the moods of adults recovering from addiction in a study conducted by researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital’s (MGH) Recovery Research Institute. “Recovery is hard,” said lead author Bettina B. Hoeppner, senior research scientist at the institute and an associate professor of psychology at Harvard Medical School. “For the effort to be sustainable, positive experiences need to be attainable along the way.” More than 500 people struggling with addiction participated in the randomized, online survey. They each were assigned one of five psychology exercises that took an average of four minutes to complete. Participants reported the greatest mood lift after completing an exercise that had them select and describe one of their own photos capturing a happy time. An exercise in which participants noted two positive experiences from the previous day led to the next-highest gains in happiness, followed by one that had them list a highlight and...