November has been dubbed "National Gratitude Month" because of the Thanksgiving holiday toward the end of the month. Over the years, studies have been conducted on showing gratitude and its effects on mental and physical health. The practice of showing or expressing gratitude lessens stress, anxiety, and depression, improves your physical health, and simply makes you happy.

You can become happier and healthier by regularly expressing gratitude. Gratitude can make people happier, improve relationships, and potentially even counteract depression and suicidal thoughts. Gratitude can also boost self-esteem.

The answer is supported by well-studied research. "Expressing gratitude can positively change your brain," says Kristin Francis, MD, a psychiatrist at Huntsman Mental Health Institute. "It boosts dopamine and serotonin, the neurotransmitters in the brain that improve your mood immediately, giving you those positive feelings of pleasure, happiness, and well-being.”

Each day, as we practice gratitude, we can help these neural pathways in our brain strengthen and ultimately create a permanent grateful, positive nature within ourselves.

"When we acknowledge the small things in life, we can rewire our brain to deal with the present with more awareness and broader perception," Francis says. "By reducing stress, gratitude reduces depression and anxiety. Keeping a gratitude journal or consistently verbalizing gratitude can help manage negative emotions like guilt and shame."

Information taken from PRACTICING GRATITUDE FOR BETTER HEALTH AND WELL-BEING.