88 Wholesome Posts To Give You The Dumbest And Happiest Grin

If it seems like scrolling through these posts leaves you feeling a bit lighter, you probably aren't imagining it. Good, wholesome, and positive content is proven to uplift us. Research has shown that feel-good stories and pics can trigger dopamine release. That's the neurotransmitter associated with feelings of pleasure and reward.

"When we read about very inspiring achievements, uplifting, very good stories, or tales of resilience, our brain interprets this as a rewarding experience, boosting mood and motivation," explains the Insight Mental Wellness site.

The mental health experts add that positive content can also act as emotional “buffer zones.” Meaning, when we read or look at uplifting stories and images, it becomes easier to cope with the negativity around us, or the challenges we're facing. And I'm sure we can agree that there's more than enough negative news doing the daily rounds at the moment.

That's because many traditional news outlets have an unwritten rule: "If it bleeds, it leads." In other words, bad news gets priority.

Researchers at Berkeley University say that despite us complaining about all the bad news out there, people are naturally attracted to negative news. This, they explain, is in part because "our brains are primed to scan the environment for danger and remember threats later, as a way of promoting survival."

But being exposed to so much fear-inducing content can be really bad for our mental health. It can raise our cortisol levels, which leads to fatigue, irritability, depression, and long-term health problems. That's why many people are starting to disengage, or not watch/read the news.

One 2014 study, conducted by the Harvard School of Public Health, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and NPR found that consuming negative news is one of the leading causes of stress among Americans. Another found that people showed an increase in symptoms of anxiety and depression after only 14 minutes of news consumption.

To protect your own sanity, Mental Health America suggests limiting how much news you read or watch.

"Doomscrolling might help you feel more informed about how to protect yourself from the troubles of the world, but it ultimately does more harm than good," warns the site. "Aim for no more than 30 minutes per day if possible."

Thankfully, scrolling through good news stories (or positive pics like the ones featured here) can also help by reducing cortisol levels, providing some calm, and counterbalancing the awful effects of negative news.

Psychology Today even suggests going on a "good news diet." Apart from it benefiting our own mental health, the site argues that society as a whole might win.

"If we all started clicking on the positive news, and getting our friends and relatives to develop the same habit, there would be more positive stories in the news," it explains. "Because people are addicted to negative news, the news media gives us more of it."

If the algorithms embedded in the news media are designed to give us more of what we want, notes the site, then if enough of us boycott the bad news, and reinforce the good news with clicks, "it will lead to one of those virtuous cycles, with the result being more positive news stores to choose from."

In 2017, the Guardian launched a pilot project to see how readers would respond if the media outlet deliberately sought out, and reported on, the good things happening in the world. The response proved that people want positivity...

In announcing that they'd be moving forward with providing more positive stories, the Guardian's team said that reader numbers for "this kind of journalism" have proven remarkably robust.

"News doesn’t have to be bad," they added. "The planet is complex. Away from the horror and conflict, the shouting and the skulduggery, away from the tragedy, disaster and zero-sum misanthropy, there is a wide world of answers and improvements, of win-win and mutual support, of selflessness and curiosity, of movements and innovations."