Positive Psychology: FORA.tv - Raj Persaud: How to be Happy

Friday, December 3, 2010

FORA.tv - Raj Persaud: How to be Happy

Raj Persaud is a Consultant Psychiatrist and Senior Lecturer at The Maudsley Hospitals and Institute of Psychiatry in London which are the leading teaching, research and clinical institutions in psychiatry in Europe. He also holds a degree in psychology that he obtained with First Class Honours, and in addition he has been awarded over eight degrees and diplomas including a Master's in Statistics. He has been recognized for the innovative nature of his research by the receipt of numerous academic awards and prizes including the prestigious Royal College of Psychiatrists Research Medal and Prize and The Maudsley Hospital's own Denis Hill Prize plus the exclusive medical award, the Osler Medal.

Positive Psychology given credence by Academia:

Positive psychology is the scientific study of the strengths and virtues that enable individuals and communities to thrive.

Commentators on the subject Martin Seligman and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, note that:

"The field of positive psychology at the subjective level is about valued subjective experiences: well-being, contentment, and satisfaction (in the past); hope and optimism (for the future); and flow and happiness (in the present).

At the individual level, it is about positive individual traits: the capacity for love and vocation, courage, interpersonal skill, aesthetic sensibility, perseverance, forgiveness, originality, future mindedness, spirituality, high talent, and wisdom.

At the group level, it is about the civic virtues and the institutions that move individuals toward better citizenship: responsibility, nurturance, altruism, civility, moderation,tolerance, and work ethic."