常说“感谢”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.

据英国《每日邮报》11月23日报道，“给予感谢”实际上表达了我们对他人的谢意。无论是通过语言，行动还是书信的方式表达谢意，对我们造成的深远影响不仅有精神层面的，还包括生理层面的。

科学家们认为，不知感恩的人实际上是自欺欺人。

纯粹地向人致谢能使体内释放出化学物质，包括像多巴胺与血清素一类的“奖励”物质。血清素是一种能使人感到平静和快乐的神经递质。

美国杜克大学的P-穆拉利-多雷斯瓦米博士说：“如果感谢是一种药，它会是世界上最畅销的药品。它影响到人体每一个重要的器官系统。”

简单的致谢行为还能减少如皮质醇一类的压力荷尔蒙。

另一项研究来自美国肯特州立大学的赛勒学院，该研究检测了感谢行为带来的影响。

史蒂芬-托普菲尔让一个学生实验小组给他们认识的人写感谢信。

托普菲尔确保这些“感谢”针对的不是如收到一件礼物的小恩小惠，而是真实的有意义的事件。

一组学生写了感谢信而另一组则没有。

写了感谢信的小组成员发现他们的生活满意度有所提高，而那些曾经历过轻度抑郁的学生发现自己的抑郁症状有所减轻。

这种情况出现的关键似乎就是真诚的感激之情：你的身体已经“知道”发生了一件积极的事件，而这些反应正是身体的回应方式。

托普菲尔已经把他的这项研究发表在了《幸福感研究》上，他说：“如果你想增加幸福感，就花上15分钟写一份感谢信吧。”