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The quotes below are taken from The Science of Happiness: Psychology explores humans at their best by Craig Lambert in Harvard Magazine (Jan-Feb 2007).  Note:  The article and quotes were passed along to me by a concerned Harvard alum for prayer, reflection, and taking steps in transformation which would involve the power of the Gospel in higher education.  Join with me in this process. 

There is a rapidly growing interest in studies and college courses on "positive psychology", a break from the old freudian focus on the dark side....

"It's a paradox; the wealthier we get, the more depressed young people get." Richard Kadison, chief of mental health at the Harvard University Health Services, writing in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2005, cited a national survey of 13,500 college students which found that 45 percent reported feeling depression deep enough to prevent them from functioning, and 94 percent felt overwhelmed by everything they had to do. "In our time, depression is on the rise," Ben-Shahar says. "More and more students experience stress, anxiety, unhappiness. Until a few years ago, we didn't have e-mail; now, students check their e-mail 20 times a day. Students work longer hours and are having to build up their resumes to levels that, 20 years ago, were not expected of young people. Students today are looking for ideas that will help them to lead better lives."

To counter this growing depression (a major problem at harvard), a positive psychology course at harvard taught by a non-tenured professor has the largest enrollment of any course in the catalog:

"Ben-Shahar is a psychologist and author who has never pursued a tenure-track position nor published research in professional journals (even so, his third book, Happier: Finding Meaning, Pleasure, and the Ultimate Currency, is due this spring). Ben-Shahar's passion is teaching, and he goes on to explain how he teaches positive psychology. His Harvard course on the subject has been offered twice, in 2004 and in 2006, when its enrollment of 854 students was the largest of any course in the catalog, surpassing even introductory economics. This startling fact seized the attention of national media, and pieces about "Happiness 101" (actually, Psychology 1504, "Positive Psychology") appeared in the Boston Globe and on CNN, CBS, National Public Radio, and overseas in the Guardian, the Jerusalem Post, and the Shanghai Evening Post, making Ben-Shahar one of the best-known positive psychologists alive. At 36 years of age, he is a young star in a field that is only eight years old."

One study on things that can increase contentment:

Sleep has an enormous effect. If you don't sleep well, you feel bad. TV watching is just OK, and time spent with the kids is actually low on the mood chart." Having intimate relations topped the list of positives, followed by socializing -- testimony to how important the "need to belong" is to human satisfaction. Etcoff applied these methods to 54 women, in a study sponsored by the Society of American Florists, and found that an intervention as simple as a gift of flowers that stayed in one's home for a few days could affect a wide variety of emotions -- for example, less anxiety and depression at home and enhanced relaxation, energy, and compassion at work.