Recent Evidence Shows?

by Warren E. Berkley

Several years ago scientists (especially in the behavior field) formed a research team. The simple question to be studied was: What can be done for people who are depressed? Not severe depression that has some physiological cause. Just people who visit a therapist and they present symptoms of depression; functional but depressed.

So, this team set about the task of finding a non-pharmaceutical treatment (apparently not funded by the pharmaceutical companies). They did their research, accounted for all the data, poured over case studies, and conducted interviews. Finally, the findings were published.

Headlines: New Research!

Published by the University of California at Berkeley (no relation to author), here is a quotation from their findings: “Recent evidence suggests that a promising approach is to complement psychological counseling with additional activities that are not too taxing for clients, but yield high results. In our own research, we have zeroed in on one such activity: the practice of gratitude.”

It is remarkable – and it happens all the time – that some who are held in high esteem in the academic world find something God has said from the beginning and God’s people have always practiced; and when they sign their collective names to it, it becomes “new research.”

The document went on to say, “…many studies over the past decade have found that people who consciously count their blessings tend to be happier and less depressed.”

“Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (I Thessalonians 5:18). Let’s keep doing what we know moves us further into the light of Christ and away from the darkness of this world. Count your many blessings. Name them one by one.

Source: Joshua Brown, "How Gratitude Changes You and Your Brain," Greater Good Magazine, 6 June 2017.