The Pros And Cons Of Positive Psychology

In the modern world, people are dealing with health problem all over the world, and one of them lies at mental illness. Depression, anxiety, ADHD, autism, schizophrenia … There are over 200 classified form of mental illness nowadays, and everyone knows of someone who is suffering from a mental illness. (“The Five (5) Major Categories of Mental Illness”). Therefore, it is natural that most fields of psychology focus on curing mental illness. However, healing these disorder only reduce the negative state of mind, it does not make a person happy. For the people who are not suffering from an illness, being normal does not help them flourish or become more fulfilled. This is why a new field of psychology has emerged: Positive Psychology. This field …show more content…
However, this appears to have some flaws. Positive psychology is a branch of psychology that, by definition, focus on the factors that help individuals live a better, happier and more fulfilled life (Sheldon). The definition does not imply that the problem and negative feeling of people should be dismissed at all (Peterson). Thus, it is important to differentiate between the two concepts. People do not just survive from illness, they live. While psychology has fields that treat mental disorder, positive psychology help them live a life worth …show more content…
The social belief is that people need to be success to be happy. When a person have a goal, only by attain that goal will he feel fulfilled. However, the problems lie here. Humans can never be satisfied with their achievement. If they have achieve their goal, a new goal is set, with the happiness laying at the other sides of the line. Thus, the happiness that people feels only stay for a short amount of time, and then they will revert back. However, if a person can start to look for positivity in his life, then his brain will view the world differently, thus changing the perspective of happiness. This person will stay happy, and this feeling will motivate him to success. Studies have conclude that “positive affect promotes cognitive flexibility and the ability to take different perspectives … and its first cousin, optimism, may also be a source of self-control and a resource for coping ability in difficult situations” (Isen, 182). Bakker, also point out that “weekly physical activity had a positive impact on physical health and anxiety when many minor life events occurred” in their publication - Workaholism and Daily Recovery. The practice of positive psychology has help enhancing the life of many people, especially their