{"id":9240,"date":"2020-04-16T08:00:53","date_gmt":"2020-04-16T13:00:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.osfhealthcare.org\/blog\/?p=9240"},"modified":"2020-04-16T10:44:49","modified_gmt":"2020-04-16T15:44:49","slug":"how-practicing-gratitude-can-improve-your-mental-health","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/how-practicing-gratitude-can-improve-your-mental-health\/","title":{"rendered":"How practicing gratitude can improve your mental health"},"content":{"rendered":"

Reflecting<\/a> on what you\u2019re grateful for can get you through the day-to-day pressures and stresses during difficult times.<\/p>\n

\n

Seeking peace?<\/p>\n

Get online support<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Making a habit of focusing on the positives in your life can offer great benefits to your mental health, said Cheryl Crowe, director of Behavioral Health<\/a> for OSF HealthCare.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s health benefits to gratitude, certainly. It puts us in a better, positive state. It really builds that resilience,\u201d Crowe said. \u201cIt\u2019s just a tool we can use to focus on the good things and the blessings. I think when we do that we just stay in a very positive state of mind, which is important for all of us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Find time to reflect<\/h2>\n

Taking a few moments to reflect on gratitude can help you find meaning in small but enjoyable moments, like a great cup of coffee<\/a> or a fun conversation with a coworker.<\/p>\n

Crowe said it\u2019s easy to get bogged down in the day-to-day grind. But choosing to be grateful can help boost a person\u2019s mood. And gratitude can also be contagious.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we get stuck in a negative place we tend to bring people to us who are also very stuck. This is an opportunity to really not only help them share a different message, but to have a different experience,\u201d Crowe said.<\/p>\n

Practice, practice, practice<\/h2>\n

\"gratitudeBut gratitude takes practice.<\/p>\n

Crowe suggests starting with approaches like saying, \u201cthank you,\u201d to people who may not expect it, or writing down a few things each day that make you grateful.<\/p>\n

One act of gratitude can cause a ripple effect, impacting someone\u2019s life in ways beyond measure, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is an important topic because there are so many people who are lonely and in need. We are seeing that impact things like suicide rates and rates of depression,\u201d Crowe said. \u201cWe have an opportunity when we practice gratitude to share our experiences and to share that joy.\u00a0 We really need to reach out to people who may need us, and need more than we need at that moment. I think this is our opportunity to do that, and be grateful for what gifts we can share.\u201d<\/p>\n

Seek help<\/h2>\n

When gratitude is hard to come by, there is help available. OSF HealthCare has a robust library<\/a> of mental health resources that can assist you in finding the help you need.<\/p>\n

OSF HealthCare also provides a digital tool called OSF SilverCloud, which assists people in managing anxiety, depression, stress, or a combination of anxiety and depression. OSF SilverCloud<\/a> is free to access for adults \u2013 even those who are not current OSF HealthCare patients.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Reflecting on what you\u2019re grateful for can get you through the daily pressures and stresses during difficult times.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":9245,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[734],"tags":[539,816,831],"coauthors":[707],"class_list":["post-9240","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mental-health","tag-reflection","tag-silvercloud","tag-stress"],"yoast_head":"\nHow practicing gratitude can improve your mental health<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Reflecting on what you\u2019re grateful for can get you through the daily pressures and help reduce stress during difficult times.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/how-practicing-gratitude-can-improve-your-mental-health\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How practicing gratitude can improve your mental health\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Reflecting on what you\u2019re grateful for can get you through the daily pressures and stresses during difficult times.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/how-practicing-gratitude-can-improve-your-mental-health\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"OSF HealthCare Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/osfhealthcare\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-04-16T13:00:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-04-16T15:44:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/gratitude-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Libby Allison\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"How practicing gratitude can improve your mental health\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"Reflecting on what you\u2019re grateful for can get you through the daily pressures and stresses during difficult times.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/gratitude-1.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@osfhealthcare\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@osfhealthcare\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Libby Allison\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/how-practicing-gratitude-can-improve-your-mental-health\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/how-practicing-gratitude-can-improve-your-mental-health\/\",\"name\":\"How practicing gratitude can improve your mental health\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/how-practicing-gratitude-can-improve-your-mental-health\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/how-practicing-gratitude-can-improve-your-mental-health\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/gratitude-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-04-16T13:00:53+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-04-16T15:44:49+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/d1d60dee5001d391f8ebff6fd450f47c\"},\"description\":\"Reflecting on what you\u2019re grateful for can get you through the daily pressures and help reduce stress during difficult times.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/how-practicing-gratitude-can-improve-your-mental-health\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/how-practicing-gratitude-can-improve-your-mental-health\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/how-practicing-gratitude-can-improve-your-mental-health\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/gratitude-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/gratitude-1.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":630,\"caption\":\"Woman looking out the window with gratitude\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/how-practicing-gratitude-can-improve-your-mental-health\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"How practicing gratitude can improve your mental health\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"OSF HealthCare Blog\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/d1d60dee5001d391f8ebff6fd450f47c\",\"name\":\"Libby Allison\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/author\/lallison\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How practicing gratitude can improve your mental health","description":"Reflecting on what you\u2019re grateful for can get you through the daily pressures and help reduce stress during difficult times.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/how-practicing-gratitude-can-improve-your-mental-health\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How practicing gratitude can improve your mental health","og_description":"Reflecting on what you\u2019re grateful for can get you through the daily pressures and stresses during difficult times.","og_url":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/how-practicing-gratitude-can-improve-your-mental-health\/","og_site_name":"OSF HealthCare Blog","article_publisher":"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/osfhealthcare","article_published_time":"2020-04-16T13:00:53+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-04-16T15:44:49+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":630,"url":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/gratitude-1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Libby Allison","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_title":"How practicing gratitude can improve your mental health","twitter_description":"Reflecting on what you\u2019re grateful for can get you through the daily pressures and stresses during difficult times.","twitter_image":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/gratitude-1.jpg","twitter_creator":"@osfhealthcare","twitter_site":"@osfhealthcare","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Libby Allison","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/how-practicing-gratitude-can-improve-your-mental-health\/","url":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/how-practicing-gratitude-can-improve-your-mental-health\/","name":"How practicing gratitude can improve your mental health","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/how-practicing-gratitude-can-improve-your-mental-health\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/how-practicing-gratitude-can-improve-your-mental-health\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/gratitude-1.jpg","datePublished":"2020-04-16T13:00:53+00:00","dateModified":"2020-04-16T15:44:49+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/d1d60dee5001d391f8ebff6fd450f47c"},"description":"Reflecting on what you\u2019re grateful for can get you through the daily pressures and help reduce stress during difficult times.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/how-practicing-gratitude-can-improve-your-mental-health\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/how-practicing-gratitude-can-improve-your-mental-health\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/how-practicing-gratitude-can-improve-your-mental-health\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/gratitude-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/gratitude-1.jpg","width":1200,"height":630,"caption":"Woman looking out the window with gratitude"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/how-practicing-gratitude-can-improve-your-mental-health\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"How practicing gratitude can improve your mental health"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/","name":"OSF HealthCare Blog","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/d1d60dee5001d391f8ebff6fd450f47c","name":"Libby Allison","url":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/author\/lallison\/"}]}},"modified_by":"Katie Whitt","featured_image_url":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/gratitude-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9240","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9240"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9240\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9261,"href":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9240\/revisions\/9261"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9245"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9240"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9240"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9240"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=9240"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}