It’s no surprise that, according to this year’s happiness report, “the ability to count on others” was a “major” support to life evaluations in 2020.

Social support is by far one of the best ways to help people cope with any kind of adversity or stress or tragedy.

Helping others can take you outside of yourself and help you, too: The global “happiness effects” of generosity increased in times of global crises, and making a donation correlated with higher life satisfaction and positive affect.

Psychological distancing refers to “kind of a perspective broadening”. After gaining some distance from a stressor we’re often better equipped to reengage:

• linguistic distancing - a technique that involves analyzing your situation from a third-person perspective, like a close friend would, and activating self-compassion;
• temporal distancing, which involves imagining how you’ll feel about a current stressor sometime off in the future, perhaps a year from now, after it’s passed.

Finding personally relevant positive meaning in trying experiences — a technique known as positive reappraisal — can broaden and boost your outlook.

Reflecting on questions like “What are the strengths or insights that I showed up with in facing the situation?” or “What have I learned about myself or about my relationships?” can reveal growth or benefits the person hadn’t considered, even if it doesn’t change its negative reality. A new appraisal is a step toward tweaking your broader narrative.