351. How gratitude changes your brain
The Psychology of your 20s
iHeartPodcasts
4.8 • 1.7K Ratings
🗓️ 6 November 2025
⏱️ 30 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
We’re always told that gratitude is the route to happiness – that we should be grateful for every experience we have. But when life feels like it’s falling apart, gratitude can feel less like a comfort and more like pressure. In reality, gratitude and pain often have to coexist.
In this episode, we ask whether gratitude actually does make us happier - what it really is, how it rewires the brain, and why it sometimes feels impossible.
We explore:
• What makes gratitude so powerful
• The cognitive and neuroscientific mechanisms behind gratitude
• Toxic gratitude when life simply feels hard
• The gratitude paradox
• The guilt associated with not being grateful enough
• Some alternatives for when gratitude feels inaccessible
If you’ve ever struggled with the idea that you ‘should’ be thankful for the hard times in life, this episode is for you.
Follow Jemma on Instagram: @jemmasbeg
Follow the podcast on Instagram: @thatpsychologypodcast
For business: psychologyofyour20s@gmail.com
The Psychology of your 20s is not a substitute for professional mental health help. If you are struggling, distressed or require personalised advice, please reach out to your doctor or a licensed psychologist.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | This is an I-Heart podcast. |
| 0:08.5 | Hello everybody and welcome back to the psychology of your 20s, the podcast where we talk |
| 0:15.7 | through some of the big life changes and transitions of our 20s and what they mean for our psychology. |
| 0:27.1 | Hello everybody. Welcome back to the show. Welcome back to the podcast. New listeners, |
| 0:33.1 | old listeners, wherever you are in the world. It is so great to have you here back for another episode |
| 0:38.3 | as we of course break down the psychology of our 20s. You guys might not want me to say this, |
| 0:45.9 | but like it or not, we are coming closer to the end of the year and also the holidays, Thanksgiving, |
| 0:53.0 | Christmas, Hanukkah, New Year. |
| 0:55.4 | And famously, there is a huge emphasis on reflecting on the year and showing gratitude for our lives. |
| 1:03.1 | So I thought, what better time than now to do an episode on gratitude, which for some reason I have never done before. I don't know exactly |
| 1:13.0 | how I've missed it, but today is the day. Also, before we get into it, I want to let you know |
| 1:18.4 | this episode is actually also a video episode on YouTube. So if you prefer watching episodes with |
| 1:26.6 | video and getting to like see, I don't know, see me speaking to you |
| 1:31.3 | through a screen, go and check that out. I'll leave a link in the description. But let's get into it. |
| 1:37.3 | Gratitude journals, gratitude challenges, daily affirmations. You know, I even have a daily affirmations |
| 1:43.1 | or weekly affirmations podcast. |
| 1:45.4 | It's everywhere. If you've ever opened Instagram, which I'm assuming you have, you have probably |
| 1:50.2 | seen a post at some time, at some point about manifesting abundance. If you've ever been to therapy, |
| 1:57.2 | chances are you have encountered a therapist that has encouraged gratitude i know i shall have it is |
| 2:03.0 | presented to us as this almost like magical cure all be grateful and you will be happy people talk about |
| 2:12.7 | gratitude like it is this like magic pill this magic way to be a more happy, well-rounded person. |
| 2:20.9 | In some ways, it is. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from iHeartPodcasts, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of iHeartPodcasts and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.