Psychotherapy, self-help, positive thinking: the science of well being

However, before one can flourish and find happiness, we need to have the right tools to deal with mental health problems. Positive psychology can offer some of those tools, as well as other self-help strategies, but also professional help.

According to Mental Health America’s (MHA’s) 2023 report, more than 3 million children and 50 million adults suffer from mental health problems, and more than 55% of these people do not receive any kind of professional treatment.

Historically, psychotherapy has been dominated by psychoanalysis based on the exploration of the unconscious mind. Founded by Sigmund Freud at the end of the 19th century, and continued by other practitioners such as Jacques Lacan, this approach still remains widely practiced.

However, the 20th century was marked by the emergence of new methods, such as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT).

Characterized by a shorter duration of therapy, CBT focuses on the interactions between thoughts, beliefs, behaviors and moods, according to the Beck Institute of Cognitive Behavior Therapy.

In this way CBT is linked to positive psychology, because it suggests that any change in behavior or cognition will be followed by a change in mood. For example, practicing acts of kindness (behavior), contributes to your happiness.

But what about psychiatrists? Sometimes, it is a chemical imbalance in the brain that can result in depression, among other mental health problems, and what will help most could be to restore that balance with medication.

Psychiatrists are doctors who specialize in the diagnosis and treatment of mental health problems. After completing medical studies, they continue their training in psychiatry.

Unlike psychiatrists, psychologists are not doctors, but hold a degree in psychology. If a psychologist suspects that you may need to see a psychiatrist, they will usually refer you to one.

Whether it is Gestalt therapy, transactional analysis, CBT, or traditional psychoanalysis, all psychotherapies have in common a method based on words and on the regularity of interviews between the therapist and the patient.

Long dominant and remaining a reference in numerous films, psychoanalysis nevertheless has  suffered a certain decline in the face of competition from new approaches. It has the particularity of requiring the practitioner, in addition to training, to have undergone psychoanalysis themselves.

But psychotherapy is now competing with the recent rise of personal development or self-help; a practice that aims to realize an individual's potential and cope with one’s problems without professional help, but rather through books, podcasts, or other media offering advice.

Personal development is part of the same movement as positive thinking, a practice which, as its name suggests, consists of focusing only on the positive in order to improve one's personal development. The main idea of this trend is that a virtuous circle can be created between a positive attitude and a happy life.

The success of this school of thought and the many associated services has pushed some to denounce its faults. An essay titled “Happycracy” warned of a “happiness industry” that seeks to sell “emotional commodities” in the form of “services, therapies, and products that promise emotional transformation.”

The authors of this book have also denounced the potential perverse effects of the injunction to happiness: those who do not achieve it despite their efforts would see a feeling of guilt added to their suffering.

Another criticism addressed to personal development is the excessive focus on the self to the detriment of any collective dimension. As the authors of “Happycracy” write, these currents favor “happychondriacs”, “anxiously focused on their ego and continually concerned with correcting their psychological failings”.

The injunction to positive thinking was reflected in the emergence of the slogan “It's going to be fine/okay”. For Quebec psychologist Pascale Brodeur, this slogan "does not reflect everyone's state of mind" and "does not invite people to share and welcome different experiences (suffering, anxiety, depression, anger, etc.).

For the psychologist, this slogan is therefore potentially dangerous, because it can contribute "to make people who do not share a positive vision of the future to feel inadequate, guilty, misunderstood and alone" and "to cause the expression of sadness, pessimism, anger and anxiety to become taboo.”

Whatever the case, happiness is now present in all areas of life in society: we find it as much in the work of psychologists and economists as in the coaching sessions and activities offered in companies to improve the well being of their employees.

Today there are a multitude of very different approaches to help individuals deal with mental health problems as well as to  pursue their quest for happiness. Whatever method you choose, it is important to keep in mind the variety and the freedom of each person to choose the one that suits them best.