Science
Conquering negative thoughts
For my personal experience with Happify, I chose the "conquer negative thoughts" track. I'll admit - I'm a worrier, and my overactive mind sometimes causes mild anxiety.
Before starting any tracks, however, I had to take a short quiz, which lasted just a few minutes, so the site could determine my initial happiness levels. The quiz asked how many times I'd felt grateful in the past week, if I felt excited about my future, and other similar questions.
I scored a 61 for overall happiness, which averaged two other scores: "positive emotion," on which I scored 44 (out of 100) and "life satisfaction," on which I scored a 77.
Admittedly, I was a bit miffed at the app for basically giving me a D-. I feel more than "pretty decent" on most days, and even at my worst, I thought I deserved at least a C+.
The best game on Happify.
Pushing my ego aside, I started browsing through the activities on the app that I could start doing. They ranged from completing writing exercises (i.e. "What are you proud of?") to looking at timed beached scenes accompanied by peaceful music, to playing games, such as popping hot air balloons labeled with negative and positive words. The latter ended up being one of my favorite activities on Happify.
In the game, users quickly click the balloons with positive connotations - like "kind" and "correct" - and ignore the ones with negative words, such as "sigh." I found myself excited when I saw this game appear in my queue for the week, and if I felt particularly stressed or sad, I often took down some dirigibles in the app's "free play" mode.
"Behind this innocent balloon-popping game is so much
A widely accepted theory among Darwinian scientists does assert that stress helps species survive. By staying constantly aware of potential threats, we become better prepared to stay alive, the theory goes. Unfortunately, that can also make us feel unnecessarily anxious.
Aside from genuine fun, Happify offers a considerable amount of positive reinforcement and feedback. The app tells you when you've reached new milestones in certain games and congratulates you for progress on skills that relate to the track.
As simple as it sounds, these notifications encouraged me and made me feel more proactive in my quest for peace of mind.
The hedonic treadmill
A psychological concept called the "hedonic treadmill" played heavily into Happify's creation. Coined in the 1970s, the idea refers to a "happiness set point," as Parks explained, which differs from person to person. Throughout life, people emotionally adapt to maintain this point. Think about it like emotional homeostasis.
That second year of marriage isn't necessarily any less wonderful. People's expectations have just risen, like when someone experiences a death in the family, losing their keys may not elicit as much frustration. One person can only handle so much.
Happify's creators faced the hard task of guarding against this hedonic treadmill. The variety of activities supposedly act as a kind of immunity against it. Studies of people using self help apps shows greater success with different activities, according to Parks.
"If two individuals spend four hours on the app - one only did one activity and one did more - the one who did more would be less subject to adaptation because they're doing different activities," she explained.
A dark side of happiness?
Despite Happify's emphasis on psychological research, not everyone agrees these types of activities can increase happiness - or even that people should try to do so.
Shimon Edelman, professor of psychology at Cornell University and author of "The Pursuit of Happiness," voiced some reservations about the inherent basis of apps like Happify. He spoke to Business Insider at length about one specific study, "A Dark Side of Happiness? How, When, and Why Happiness Is Not Always Good," which Parks called "cool and important" but "limited in its findings."
Edelman referenced a well-established vein of research that discusses emotion as the body's way of policing itself. Let's say you miss a deadline at work because you forgot or didn't plan your time well. The guilt and anxiety that results could prevent you from making the same mistakes in the future.
"Setting aside the nature of the application, which seems to be a bit like voodoo ... happiness is part of the system for behavioral regulation," Edelman told Business Insider. "If you don't feel unhappy about a bad outcome, you have no prompt to change your actions."
By helping users overcome negative emotions like worry and guilt, services like Happify might combat this crucial method of self-control.
"Instead of asking, 'What should I do to be happier?' People should be asking, 'What kind of person do I want to be?'" Edelman said. "Virtue is not taken lightly within this type fo research."
As I've said, I often return to my beloved balloon-popping game to cope with stress or sadness. It's distracting and seems to brighten my mood. When I asked Edelman about any research behind the activity, however, he called it "preposterous."
Edelman instead propose a different task: asking myself why I'm happy. "That seems like a much better activity .... It's one more level of simplicity than shooting down balloons with words written in them."
The burning question
So ... did Happify work?
Yes and no.
"After six to eight weeks, 86% of users who use the program for the recommended time and dosage come back and say they feel happier and much better," Leidner explained.
According to my Happify stats, I didn't experience quite the same benefit. In fact, my overall happiness levels dropped.
Then again, I wasn't using the Happify as the creators intended. Happify recommends users complete at least eight activities a week. Try as I might, I couldn't hit that. And I doubled the three-week period of use Leidner recommended.
While Happify offers some features for free, the full subscription normally runs $14.95 a month. The company generously offered me a complimentary subscription, the same one developers have, but unfortunately, that came without push notifications reminding me to complete weekly activities. The regular subscription does include them.
While I don't necessarily feel "happier" after using Happify, I do feel more prepared to cope with negativity. When I'm overwhelmed or down, I've noticed I count my blessings more frequently. I take more deep breaths, imagine myself in serene spaces, and make time to write down my problems - and their solutions.
That said, would I pay $14.95 a month to practice these skills, when meditation, journaling, or even uplifting sticky notes on my mirror could potentially do the same? Probably not.
But as long as parts of Happify stay free, I'll keep going back to "conquer my negative thoughts" - and play that delightful balloon game.