Does self-care really make you happy?
Beyond Today
BBC
4.6 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 28 February 2020
⏱️ 26 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
2020 has been quite a year, we're only two months in but have already faced an impending war between the US and Iran, deadly bushfires in Australia, and now coronavirus is spreading across the world.
So, in light of that, we thought it was time to return to an earlier episode to make us all feel better. It’s about self-care and making time for some emotional first aid.
Dr Laurie Santos is professor of psychology and cognitive science at Yale University. She was so concerned about the anxiety her students experienced she devised a course that would teach them how to be happy. Psychology and the Good Life quickly became the most popular course in the history of Yale and the online version went viral.
Now Laurie Santos has turned her research into a podcast called the Happiness Lab. She gave us her top tips were to ensure lasting happiness.
Presenter: Tina Daheley Producer: Duncan Barber Mixed by Nicolas Raufast and Emma Crowe Editor: Philly Beaumont
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, podcasts. |
| 0:06.0 | Hello, I'm Tina DeHili, and this is Beyond Today from BBC Radio 4, a place to ask one big question about one big story. |
| 0:20.8 | Today, does self-care really make you happy? |
| 0:30.2 | I think it's pretty fair to say that 2020 has been quite a year so far, and we're only two months in. January kicked off with what |
| 0:39.9 | looked like an impending war between the United States and Iran. Then it was the deadly bushfires |
| 0:45.0 | in Australia and now coronavirus is spreading across the world. On Tuesday we asked, are we all |
| 0:51.9 | going to catch coronavirus? If you missed it, have a listen back. |
| 0:56.0 | So in light of that, we thought it would be a good time to return to an earlier episode on a Friday, one of my favourites, to make us all feel better. |
| 1:05.3 | It's all about self-care and making time for some emotional first aid. |
| 1:14.2 | I. care and making time for some emotional first aid. I am a self-confessed big fan of self-care. |
| 1:20.2 | I love a spa day. |
| 1:24.2 | A bit of pampering every now and then I work really hard, so when I do get downtime, I'm mindful of doing things that I think are good for my mental, emotional and physical health. It could be anything from a Pilates class to spending a night in reading, going to a nice restaurant. Self-care looks different for all of us, but we all do it. The self-care |
| 1:47.5 | industry is booming and it's everywhere. It's reportedly worth nearly £8 billion globally. |
| 1:54.2 | There are loads of shopping sites flogging self-care kits. I suppose it's one of the ways the world is responding to our increased awareness of mental health, albeit in a commercial way. |
| 2:07.2 | We do know that one in four people will suffer from a mental health problem at some point in their lifetime, |
| 2:12.8 | and that anxiety among young people seems to be on the rise. |
| 2:17.7 | The latest research suggests that rates of psychological distress and illness are especially high among undergraduates. |
| 2:25.9 | That's where the person I've been speaking to for today's episode started her journey. |
| 2:31.3 | She wanted to find out whether the things we think will make us happy actually will. |
| 2:37.1 | Hello. This is Laurie. Hi, Lori. It's Tina here. Tina Dehili. How are you? Hey, good things. |
| 2:41.7 | Great. Are you recording? We're recording? Dr. Laurie Santos is Professor of Psychology and |
| 2:47.6 | Cognitive Science at Yale University. Now, she was so worried about the levels of unhappiness that were being experienced by her students |
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