ABSTRACT
Positive psychology constructs can enhance mental health maintenance and management of mental illness in combination with a healthy lifestyle. Specifically, positive affect has a reinforcing reciprocal relationship with healthy behaviors boosting unconscious motivation for the behaviors, which contribute to improved mental and physical health outcomes. Moreover, traditional health behavior change techniques, including motivational interviewing, can be bolstered with positive psychology approaches, such as positive future visioning. Lastly, intentional positive activities have been shown to boost subjective and psychological well-being in patients with and without mental illness. Therefore, while further research is needed to delineate effective positive psychology practices for mental health and examine the outcomes of specific interventions for diverse populations, clinical practitioners can incorporate positive psychology approaches into psychiatric, lifestyle medicine, and general medical care to improve outcomes.
