常說“感謝”有助身心健康
“Giving thanks” actually expresses gratitude to another person, whether verbally, physically, or even in the form of a letter - has profound effects on us, not just mentally but physically.
Ungrateful people are actually cheating themselves, scientists believe.
The mere act of thanking people releases chemicals within the body including “reward” chemicals such as dopamine and serotonin - a neurotransmitter that makes us feel serene and happy.
“If thankfulness were a drug,” says Dr P Murali Doraiswamy, of Duke University, “It would be the world's best selling product. It affects every major organ system.”
Stress hormones such as cortisol are also reduced by the simple act of thanking someone.
Another study at Kent State University, Salem, measured the effect.
Steve Toepfer had a sample group of students write letters of gratitude to people they knew.
Toepfer ensured the “thanks” weren't for trivial events such as a gift, but for genuine, meaningful events.
One group of students didn't write letters, one did.
The group that wrote the letters found that their levels of life satisfaction increased - and that those who were experiencing mild depression found that their symptoms abated.
The key, it seems, is genuine gratitude: your body has to “know” that a positive event has occurred, and that you've responded.
“If you're looking to increase your well-being, take 15 minutes to write letters of gratitude to someone,” said Toepfer, who published his study in the Journal of Happiness Study.據英國《每日郵報》11月23日報道，“給予感謝”實際上表達了我們對他人的謝意。無論是通過語言，行動還是書信的方式表達謝意，對我們造成的深遠影響不僅有精神層面的，還包括生理層面的。
科學家們認爲，不知感恩的人實際上是自欺欺人。
純粹地向人致謝能使體內釋放出化學物質，包括像多巴胺與血清素一類的“獎勵”物質。血清素是一種能使人感到平靜和快樂的神經遞質。
美國杜克大學的P-穆拉利-多雷斯瓦米博士說：“如果感謝是一種藥，它會是世界上最暢銷的藥品。它影響到人體每一個重要的器官系統。”
簡單的致謝行爲還能減少如皮質醇一類的壓力荷爾蒙。
另一項研究來自美國肯特州立大學的賽勒學院，該研究檢測了感謝行爲帶來的影響。
史蒂芬-託普菲爾讓一個學生實驗小組給他們認識的人寫感謝信。
託普菲爾確保這些“感謝”針對的不是如收到一件禮物的小恩小惠，而是真實的有意義的事件。
一組學生寫了感謝信而另一組則沒有。
寫了感謝信的小組成員發現他們的生活滿意度有所提高，而那些曾經歷過輕度抑鬱的學生髮現自己的抑鬱症狀有所減輕。
這種情況出現的關鍵似乎就是真誠的感激之情：你的身體已經“知道”發生了一件積極的事件，而這些反應正是身體的迴應方式。
託普菲爾已經把他的這項研究發表在了《幸福感研究》上，他說：“如果你想增加幸福感，就花上15分鐘寫一份感謝信吧。”
