People looking to boost their mental health should be strategic about the way they retell important life events, according to recent research on the way life stories impact well-being.
The study (paywall) found that highlighting personal agency, social connections and positive outcomes when reflecting on even painful events from the past helps people heal and find satisfaction in the midst of life's unexpected twists and turns.
"You can't impact every event of your life," said lead researcher Jonathan Adler to The Wall Street Journal. "But you have a choice in how the narrative plays out. You tell the story and the story really matters."
In the study, 89 adult participants in their mid-to-late 50s were asked to tell their life stories to a team of researchers, who then assessed their mental and physical health once a year for four years, the Journal reported.
After analyzing the type of themes found in each participant's personal narrative, researchers determined that highlighting happy endings can be linked to reduced risk of depression and higher psychological and social well-being.
The study called attention to agency (feeling capable of influencing the outcome of life events), communion (feeling connected to others) and redemption (feeling that even terrible events can lead to good developments) as key themes associated with better mental health. Conversely, contamination, or the habit of dwelling on opportunities that turned out badly, degraded mental health.
The new research echoes other recent research on emotional health, including investigations into how writing about difficult moments or experiences with illness helps people find the bright side of stressful situations.
"We all have a personal narrative that shapes our view of the world and ourselves. But sometimes our inner voice doesn't get it completely right. Some researchers believe that by writing and then editing our own stories, we can change our perceptions of ourselves and identify obstacles that stand in the way of better health," The New York Times reported in January.
Similar conclusions could be found in a recent BBC News piece on parents grieving the loss of a child. Paul and Coral Jones, one of the couples featured in the story, started keeping a diary in the aftermath of the loss of their daughter, April, sorting through their own feelings and, eventually, using their writing to pen a book that will serve as a resource for other parents.
As the Journal's article on the new life story research noted, writing or retelling a way to better mental health is a bit more complex than simply looking for the bright side of every situation.
"There are concrete, methodical approaches to changing how we think," the Journal reported, offering a list of strategies to try, which were curated by behavioral strategist Warren Kennaugh. They include understanding how the current version of your life story came about in your mind and looking for parts of the tale that could be viewed in a different light.
The study (paywall) found that highlighting personal agency, social connections and positive outcomes when reflecting on even painful events from the past helps people heal and find satisfaction in the midst of life's unexpected twists and turns.
"You can't impact every event of your life," said lead researcher Jonathan Adler to The Wall Street Journal. "But you have a choice in how the narrative plays out. You tell the story and the story really matters."
In the study, 89 adult participants in their mid-to-late 50s were asked to tell their life stories to a team of researchers, who then assessed their mental and physical health once a year for four years, the Journal reported.
After analyzing the type of themes found in each participant's personal narrative, researchers determined that highlighting happy endings can be linked to reduced risk of depression and higher psychological and social well-being.
The study called attention to agency (feeling capable of influencing the outcome of life events), communion (feeling connected to others) and redemption (feeling that even terrible events can lead to good developments) as key themes associated with better mental health. Conversely, contamination, or the habit of dwelling on opportunities that turned out badly, degraded mental health.
The new research echoes other recent research on emotional health, including investigations into how writing about difficult moments or experiences with illness helps people find the bright side of stressful situations.
"We all have a personal narrative that shapes our view of the world and ourselves. But sometimes our inner voice doesn't get it completely right. Some researchers believe that by writing and then editing our own stories, we can change our perceptions of ourselves and identify obstacles that stand in the way of better health," The New York Times reported in January.
Similar conclusions could be found in a recent BBC News piece on parents grieving the loss of a child. Paul and Coral Jones, one of the couples featured in the story, started keeping a diary in the aftermath of the loss of their daughter, April, sorting through their own feelings and, eventually, using their writing to pen a book that will serve as a resource for other parents.
As the Journal's article on the new life story research noted, writing or retelling a way to better mental health is a bit more complex than simply looking for the bright side of every situation.
"There are concrete, methodical approaches to changing how we think," the Journal reported, offering a list of strategies to try, which were curated by behavioral strategist Warren Kennaugh. They include understanding how the current version of your life story came about in your mind and looking for parts of the tale that could be viewed in a different light.