Positive Psychology: The Science Of Happiness | A Self-Improvement Article "If you want to see the sun new balance 999 mens australia , searching for the light is more effective than trying to explain the darkness." "Try to think more about yourself", or "Don't let the bad emotions bring you down", or "Focus on the bright side of Life", or "Calm Down" have been ones of the most typical advises from a psychologist when a person admitted that was on depression or was getting towards it. Forgive me but I have always accepted these recommendations as not being able to be more effective to a human than to a cat. During that times more depressing than my life's psychology was the fact that I actually didn't know about the existence of any sector of psychology that would provide me with more useful "prescriptions", even though I had been consulted by a few psychologists. Up to the date when I learnt that during the last 15 years this science had evolved... The Roots and the Establishment In the middle of 20th century a great American Psychologist with the name Abraham Maslow had first among modern psychologists talked about focusing on the positive elements for enhancing human psychology. Maslow is very well-known about his theory on the hierarchy of needs. The latter is a presentation of the hierarchy of the physical and mental requirements in order for humans to survive and function properly. Also, Carl Rogers with his humanistic approach to psychology talked about the self-actualization and he listed the characteristics of a fully functioning organism. He described as good life when the organism continually aims to fulfill its full potential. Erich Fromm from the field of social psychology and not only new balance 999 sale australia , followed, as well, a humanistic philosophy. The three of them are supposed to have put the cornerstone in the later establishment of the positive approach to this science. But it was in the endings of the 20th century when Martin Seligman, after decades of research on depression and his theory of learned helplessness, became the president of the American Psychological Association in 1988 and had the chance to make his dream come true. He officially created the field of Positive Psychology and he's now viewed as her father. Together with Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi in 1998 sumed up their mentalities as follows: "We believe that a psychology of positive human functioning will arise, which achieves a scientific understanding and effective interventions to build thriving individuals new balance 999 australia , families, and communities." Basic Ideas The stepping stone for Martin Seligman was a study that measured among all the psychological studies conducted which ones were about negative elements of human psychology and which ones were about positive ones. What was found was that the first ones were tremendously more than the latter ones. This situation by itself was affecting us towards the negative. The great positive psychologist Tal Ben Shahar had wisely said: "You can't study something without affecting your reality on it". This of course has to do with the phenomenon of priming that I have written about in Sad Songs: The Epitome of Misery. For over 6 decades psychology and psychiatry had been researching mostly on disorders without being able to treat them effectively. At the same time they were prescribing excess amounts of drugs so they were only making miserable people less miserable. The difference now is that Positive Psychology prevents the diseases through cultivation of the positive. That is a whole shift in consciousness in the field: Health till that time was defined as the absence of illness whereas Positive Psychology defines illness as the absence of health so tries actively to improve it. One does not just say: "I don't have an illness so I am healthy." This is a pessimistic approach anyway. The right thing is: "I have managed to be healthy so ok, I don't have an illness." Seligman and his colleagues had broken down the word "happy" in three different life aspects. The first was pleasant life in which you have the most positive emotions and pleasures and you try to establish them. The second is the life of engagement. A life when you engage in activities that you like so much that during them, time stops for you. You may be working on something for ten hours and don't realise a minute. This is a concept mostly researched by the previously mentioned scientist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and is called Flow. During that time you feel absolutely nothing. You are one with the music, or with your creativity, or with an other body. The third breakdown of a happy life is meaning. Understanding your strengths and using them towards something larger than you. For example new balance 996 mens australia , you have a charity organisation. So a happy life in general is a combination of the above three elements and positive psychologists have found several practical advises to increase happiness. Tal Ben Shahar's course on Positive Psychology In the second semester of the academic year 2005-2006 Tal Ben Shahar's course on Positive Psychology in the Harvard University became the most popular class in the history of the University. It was so popular that it was recorded and uploaded to Harvard's webpage so that everyone with access to the internet could download it. This historical course took place from 222006 -- 452006 and was attended by 850 students. My own first approach to positive psychology was a few years later when I watched the whole semester at my home by taking notes exactly like I was one of the students. Unfortunately, these amazing videos have been removed from Harvard's server. The reason was maybe the fact that Tal Ben Shahar has left Harvard and has published books on the subjects he had taught. Some Concepts Every chapter of positive psychology is a unique concept as for importance but all of them seem to have internal connections among them. You will learn to take a more optimistic approach in every sector of life. Instead of avMark.