Celebrate Every Day to Boost Your Mental Health

What's Happening at HealthyPlace This Week?

• Celebrate Every Day to Boost Your Mental Health
• From the HealthyPlace Mental Health Blogs
• Tips on Enjoying Your Favorite Treats Without Binge Eating
• Most Popular HealthyPlace Articles Shared by Facebook Fans
• Quote About Sociopaths

Celebrating is fun, and it’s much more than fluff. Celebrating things big and small has a substantial impact on the brain and overall mental health. When we celebrate here and there, we experience temporary boosts in mood and mental wellbeing. When we celebrate little things in little ways as a daily habit, we make those mental health boosts long-lasting.

The act of celebrating teaches your brain to think and pay attention differently. The human brain has a built-in negativity bias that causes anxiety. It’s constantly scanning for danger, ready to activate the flight-or-fight (stress) response at a moment’s notice1. While designed to keep us safe, if we don’t purposely override it, it makes us prone to anxiety, depression, and overall reduced mental health. The human brain, however, is also able to learn and adapt throughout life (this is known as neuroplasticity). Not only that, it’s hard-wired to learn to override its own negativity bias.

When we celebrate something, anything, the brain responds with a flurry of chemical activity2. Cortisol and other stress-related neurotransmitters are replaced by feel-good hormones such as oxytocin, dopamine, serotonin, and endorphins. Celebrating, no matter how we do it, is a reward in and of itself that teaches the brain to notice and respond to positive things in our lives rather than constantly gravitating to the negative. Find little reasons to celebrate daily, and spend a few moments in celebration throughout your day, enjoying something simple to boost your mental health.

Sources

Marano, H.E. (2015, June). Our brain’s negative bias. Psychology Today. Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/articles/200306/our-brains-negative-bias

Glaser, J.E. (2015, December). Celebration time. Psychology Today. Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/conversational-intelligence/201512/celebration-time

Recommended Video

Dr. Sydney Savion explains how brain health and happiness are connected and, used properly, can create a beautiful mind. Watch now.

Related Articles Dealing with Neurochemicals, Brain Activity

• Is Depression a Chemical Imbalance?
• Depression Isn’t a Chemical Imbalance
• 5-HTP and the Serotonin Connection
• Serotonin May Hold Key to ADHD Treatment
• What Causes ADHD?
• Is Schizophrenia Associated with a Chemical Deficit in the Brain?
• Trauma Disorders and Cortisol (Part 1): What is Cortisol?
• Trauma Disorders and Cortisol (Part 2): Cortisol Imbalance
• Trauma Disorders and Cortisol (Part 3): Managing Cortisol
• Trauma Disorders and Cortisol (Part 4): Why It Matters
• I Am More Than a Bipolar Diagnosis
• Narcissists and Chemical Imbalances

Your Thoughts

Today's Question: Research shows celebrating everyday can boost your mental health. What little reasons do you have to celebrate, and how do you do it? We invite you to participate by sharing your thoughts, experiences, and knowledge on the HealthyPlace Facebook page.

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From the HealthyPlace Mental Health Blogs

On all our blogs, your comments and observations are welcomed.

• When You Can't Sleep Because You're Anxious
• Introduction to Michael Thomas Kincella, New Author of Living with Adult ADHD
• How to Recover from a Binge
• Be Careful About Using Exercise to Stabilize Emotions
• Reset Your Perspective for Better Self-Esteem
• Is Getting Lost in a Hobby Good for Your Mental Health?
• Writing About Self-Harm on a Public Platform
• Social Media and Mental Health Stigma -- Is It All Bad?
• Why This Schizoaffective Chooses Not to Drink
• Open Communication About Abuse Is Best for Healing
• Having Self-Compassion After a Binge-Drinking Relapse
• The Internet and Combatting Mental Health Stigma
• How I Coped with an Unexpected Anxiety Trigger
• Feeling More at Home in Chaotic Environments with ADHD
• Practicing Self-Care Can Be Hard
• You Are Not a Burden: Stop Listening to the Eating Disorder
• Schizophrenia and Grief
• Observing Self-Injury Awareness Day as a Self-Harmer
• Boys and Men Are Also Prominent Victims of Verbal Abuse
• You Are Not Alone in Addiction Recovery
• Depression Takes Over Sometimes: Productivity, Guilt, and Shame
• Three Ways Romantic Suspense Improves My Perspective on Love
• I Moved to Canada on a Whim Thanks to My ADHD
• When Anxiety Affects Making Decisions

Feel free to share your thoughts and comments at the bottom of any blog post. And visit the mental health blogs homepage for the latest posts.

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From the HealthyPlace YouTube Channel

It can be uncomfortable to enjoy your favorite treats while recovering from binge eating disorder. Here, Emma shares her tips on how to enjoy treats without binge eating. Take a look.

Subscribe to the HealthyPlace YouTube channel

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Most Popular HealthyPlace Articles Shared by Facebook Fans

Here are the top 3 mental health articles HealthyPlace Facebook fans are recommending you read:

1. How to Deal with an Alcoholic
2. The Hidden Story of Domestic Abuse
3. When a Dysfunctional Family Triggers Your Addiction

If you haven't already, I hope you'll like us on Facebook too. There are a lot of wonderful, supportive people there.

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Quote About Sociopaths

“Sociopaths do not care about other people, and so do not miss them when they are alienated or gone, except as one might regret the absence of a useful appliance that one has somehow lost. ” ― Martha Stout

Read more quotes from and about sociopaths.

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That's it for now. If you know of anyone who can benefit from this newsletter or the HealthyPlace.com site, I hope you'll pass this onto them. Please share the newsletter on any social network you belong to. For updates throughout the week, follow us on Twitter, like us on Facebook, subscribe to our YouTube channel, or follow us on Instagram.

Thank you,
Deborah

Community Partner Team
HealthyPlace.com - America's Mental Health Channel
"When you're at HealthyPlace.com, you're never alone."
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