Background

Over the past three years the How to Thrive documentary was developed, which followed 7 participants over 18-month period as they were introduced to strategies to help them not only survive life, but to thrive, while filming and documenting their individual and collective journeys. The documentary aligns with a positive psychological perspective, which aims to provide people with skills and resources to proactively support mental health and wellbeing. During the intervention, participants created a sense of community. They developed a sense of belonging, learned strategies to engage in the world around them, became accountable for their own wellbeing, became more compassionate and optimistic, and learned to nurture themselves and others.

Method

Throughout the filming, I repeatedly assessed participants through a combination of quantitative surveys capturing psychological, physical, and social wellbeing and illbeing; stress; hope; and skills, motivation, and resources to live well; as well as qualitative modalities such as daily diaries and interviews.

Results 

Participants made major changes in their lives and experienced numerous positive benefits. For instance, on a scale ranging from -10 (high mental distress) to +10 (completely thriving, on average, participants went from -3.2 in terms of distress, correlating with mild to moderate levels of distress to +5.4 in terms of thriving. Levels of emotional, physical, and social wellbeing increased, and participants developed skills, motivation, and resources to support their own wellbeing and that of others. The results support numerous studies that suggest that happiness does not just happen – it’s a skill that can be learned and developed, with the right aims and supports in place.

Conclusion

Prevention is critical, and the skills included in How to Thrive offer easy to follow strategies that people across the range of the mental health continuum potentially can benefit from.