Positive Psychology for Veterinarians

What the hell is Positive Psychology? Is it woo-woo with crystals and coconut oil? Is it enforced smiling and no sadness allowed? Or is there more to it than that? And how is it relevant to veterinarians?

Okay, okay, settle down! That’s a lot of very good questions, and we’ll get to them all.

I had a conversation with a well-known, older veterinary dentist the other day about the post-graduate study program I’m enrolled in. I’m sure some of you might guess who, when I tell you that he asked me, “What’s this happiness crap all about? Where does that sort of bullshit come from? And how can you do a Master’s degree in it?” 

It’s not an unexpected response—after all I’ve known this particular veterinary dentist for a really long time, but I feel like it might not be the last time I’m asked that question. It’s not that veterinarians are cynical and mistrustful, or anything, right? It’s just that self-help isn’t normally that helpful, and we’re busy people. So why is positive psychology something we should pay attention to? 

To start with, it’s probably really important that you disregard the big yellow smiley face that the media would have us associate with positive psychology. Positive psychology has been widely promoted as “the science of happiness”, but I think Prof Christopher Peterson summed it up best when he wrote that “happiness as positive psychology conceives it is not for sissies” (2006). In positive psychology, happiness is far more than feeling good—in fact, positive emotion makes up only a small part of what is more accurately called wellbeing. 

Wellbeing science is truly that—science—with good empirical validation of many of its claims and interventions, and robust dialogue challenging any non-data-driven assumptions that are found. One of those areas of robust dialogue at present is around the very definition of wellbeing; or rather around the fact that we don’t have a universally agreed definition of what wellbeing truly means. There are researchers who believe (and I agree) that an individual’s conceptualisation of wellbeing may be population-specific, context-driven, and could change over time (Disabato, 2015; Hamling, 2015; Hone, Schofield, & Jarden, 2015). We know that living life out of congruence with the things that are important to you is a sure fire way to head down the path of poor mental health (Jarden, 2010). What are the values that matter to veterinarians as a population? How can we define wellbeing to promote flourishing?

With that in mind, here’s the question I want to pose to veterinarians around the world: what does wellbeing mean for you?

I have some ideas, obviously, but I’m a fan of data-driven decision making, so please, help me to answer the question! You can comment below, or email me: drjodie@disrupt.vet

Please let me know if you’d like your comments to remain anonymous when you email.

If we want to move veterinarians from a state of languishing, to a state of flourishing along the mental health continuum (Keyes, 2002), we need to know what flourishing looks like for vets. So tell me: what do you need to live your best life? What does wellbeing mean to you?

References:

Disabato, D. J. G. F. R. K. T. B. S. J. L. J. A. (2015). Different types of well-being? A cross-cultural examination of hedonic and eudaimonic well-being. Psychological Assessment, 28, 471–482. Retrieved from https://ezp.lib.unimelb.edu.au/login?url=http://ovidsp.ovid.com.ezp.lib.unimelb.edu.au/ovidweb.cgi?T=JS&CSC=Y&NEWS=N&PAGE=fulltext&AN=00012030-201605000-00003&D=ovft&PDF=y. doi:10.1037/pas0000209

Hamling, K. J. A. S. G. (2015). Recipes for occupational wellbeing: An investigation of the associations with wellbeing in New Zealand workers. New Zealand Journal of Human Resources Management, 15(2), 151-173. Retrieved from http://www.nzjhrm.org.nz/Site/Articles/2015_Folder/Special_Issue_2015.aspx.

Hone, L., Schofield, G., & Jarden, A. (2015). Conceptualizations of wellbeing: Insights from a prototype analysis on New Zealand workers. NZJ Hum Resour Manage, 15, 97-118. 

Jarden, A. J. (2010). Relationships between personal values, and depressed mood and subjective wellbeing.(PhD), University of Canterbury, Retrieved from http://www.aaronjarden.com/uploads/3/8/0/4/3804146/2010_aaron_jarden_phd.pdf

Keyes, C. L. (2002). The mental health continuum: From languishing to flourishing in life. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 43(2), 207-222. Retrieved from http://www.flume.com.br/pdf/Keyes_The_mental_health.pdf.

Peterson, C. (2006). A Primer in Positive psychology. New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press.