Love is all you need and it's EVERYWHERE. If you can't find it, you're not really even looking. spending time in denial will only dig your hole even deeper. forgive the world and yourself, even when you don't have reason to... there is no reason to ever blind yourself from truth, love, and beauty.

Joey Young, Minneapolis, USA

Waking up is always a good start to the day.
Use your emotions and feelings only on those things and people you can influence affect or control. Dont waste emotion on anything else.
Exclude imaginary beings whether God Captain Kirk or Father Christmas. I guarantee you will be happier.

Michael S, London, UK

Great advice. I'm not saying it is the answer to mental health problems but it certainly helps. I live very much like this, appreciating every moment, every relationship and I can honestly say I'm happy even when I'm at a low point. The key to happiness is simply to appreciate things and smile.

Jasmine, Warwickshire, England

Judging from the comments left here, showing the British how to be happy is a waste of time. They clearly don't want to be happy. They would rather be sensible.

Joseph Dolan, Seattle, USA

How arrogant of some Christians to claim that you can only be happy if you believe in God. From my experience, being a Christian makes an awful lot of people terribly UNhappy.

Ross, lancaster, UK

What to do to stay sane:
1. Whatever it takes.
2. ...

kate, Yorkshire,

It's possible belief in ghosts, gods and fairies has some social or psychological benefits for people credulous enough to buy it, but in the long run - and for the world as a whole - rationality is obviously a net win. Believing weird things might make you feel good, but that doesn't make them true.

Chris, Lonon, UK

I'm missing one thing in the list:
to make something, create something, with your own hands. Whether painting a wall, knitting, repairing a bike, sculpting or whatever, to actually create something is for me a necessary ingredient of happiness.

Bo Miller, St Die, France

I personally find happiness from berating the poor fools who believe in religion

Dan, Manchester, UK

I've a couple more to add after reading these comments....

1. Wake up with a smile knowing that you dont need the threat of fire and brimstone etc to be a good person.

2. Knowing your parents didnt brainwash you into believeing some archaic nonsense and chose to teach you FACT over FAITH.

Jamie T, Aberdeen, Scotland

Mariah, may I ask what is your way? And what exactly do you mean by happy?

Santos, Frisco, TX, US

You don't need god in your life to be happy. It might be one way, but it's not the only way.

Mariah, Santa Monica, CA,

blessed those who are pure in heart, for they will see god

kahn, texas,

"Godliness with contentment is great gain."

Dave, Raleigh, NC, USA

A personal relationship with Jesus Christ is the only way to have true happiness. Remove God from your life and one opens themself to all kinds of influential torment.

Ralph Thomas, Dayton, United States

Abe Lincoln said it best "You're pretty much as happy as you want to be." Get that chin up, look at the bright side, avoid negative people and get some fresh air.

kitty, seattle, usa

You might try using commonsense and sticking to the truth, the strain of constantly checking yourself is a destructive habit.

ONTIME, SUISUN, USA

I have a father and 3 aunts who most definitely did all 5 things and still have / had Alzheimers or dementia.

For those of you who seem to think these 5 things are rare in "today's lifestyle" I feel bad for you.

Zitface, Andover, MA, USA

Great advice whether people want to hear it or not. Don't live your life in a ping-pong ball.

Laura Robertson, Carrollton, TX, USA

What Tracey said!.

Matt, Tampa, USA

What on earth has religion got to do with this article?

bianca, maidstone, uk

“mental capital”; "bank account of the mind"; "what actions can add to that bank account...erode that capital".

What a fabulous world we live in when mentality can be descibed in financial terms that anyone can understand. Let's celebrate how far we've come as a species.

Well done everybody!

Karl, Kyiv, Ukraine

Just knowing the bird is the word keeps me sane.

Quagmire, Peteoria,

Don't do these things. Believe in the paranormal. Religion will do. Pretend that your existence will be wonderful when you die and the god that the men in robes have persuaded you exists will make it all ok. Don't face up to the evidence of your own eyes that when you are dead it is all over.

ian, sheffield,

Don't listen to any of this! It's all wrong! Don't listen to their 'facts' or 'science'. All this immoral garbage from these elitetests is just a bunch of lies. Just pray to Jesus every day! Christianity is the only proper way!

Jerry, Omaha,

Writing these steps in my journal I added a 6th prayer. Then I realized prayer is these 5 steps in union with the Perfect, Unconditional,Absolute,and Eternal. We need to act Human, we are not machines. Seek Love, Goodness, Beauty,and Truth,and dig in the dirt to find the meaning of life!

Hank, Tulare, USA

Steve, connections can be very small, not neccessarily long conversations with people you've know for years. Like smiling, saying hello and commenting on the weather to a someone. I suffer from depression and I've found that this tiny effort helps a little. It doesn't heal me, but it helps.

Ophelia, Glasgow,

"Sometimes you have to act crazy to keep your sanity!!"

David, Jacksonville, USA

I agree with these 5 steps, especially, the last one. it's really important to give. If nothing else, it helps the successful sleep at night.

Julia, Moscow, Russia

This stuff has evidence behind it within the field of positive psychology and has been shown to increase well-being in normal (as well as depressed) people. It shouldn't be portrayed as things to do 'to stay sane'. If people actually did this they would feel happier, but will anyone bother?

Jen, London,

very interesting Jo but what is tracey from houston talking about?

alexa, Doncaster, uk

Good advice - and I'd add - read a portion of your Bible each morning upon rising - food for thought before you start your day, and then thank God for everything he has given you! Dear agnostics, don't shut out the best part of living - try it, you'll like it!

HILEW, Fulton, Maryland, USA

I think I recall a line from one of the Beatles movies where one of the fab four refer to a third party in derogatory fashion in the vein of ' Oh, he's got O'level ( GCSE ) in Woodwork'.The root of many of our current ills both spiritual and economic. A synthesizing doing / making culture is all.

david nordon-angus, Cahors, France

"Have sex, with a colleague, on a football field, under a beautiful sky, while learning a new sex position"

...well I tried it out once and it was great. Of course, we have been banned from all the Reading FC home games now, but it was worth it.

Shocker, Cambridge, UK

Put the road to happiness into a formula and you have the makings of a cult.

kevin, Lincoln, UK

Keep sane ?
Get rid of the liebour party !

Roge Wheeler, Vallarta, Mexico

Brainpower- a missed opportunity!
A disease which affects a quarter of the population, definitively reduces brainpower and adversely affects GCSE results is amenable to curative treatment- unavailable to many because of PCT powers.I write of allergic rhinitis treatable by allergen immunotherapy.

Glenis Scadding, London, UK

Bring back basic Christian values of fellow ship and a belief in a wider world greater than the individual. Our current drive for individuality has done nothing but fragment society and distance people from each other. Individuality is not all bad but isolation is, certainly for mental health.

paul, liverpool,

To our American cousins: thank you for equating a superstitious belief in an immortal being who lives in the clouds and has super powers, with sanity and mental stability.

That's going to have me chuckling all day.

David, Bath,

All this invective ! What about a little anger management....when behind the wheel...waiting on the phone...anytime when queuing...brown envelopes on the hall floor. And then add a little tolerance, especially of others...put yourself in the other guy's shoes.

James McMullan, Belfast,

I observe life around me, the new shops, plants high-up in the gutters of houses and even on chimneys! People often don't look above ground-floor of buildings and they miss the curious things of city life. The swallows have gone but soon they will return, go for a walk and look around!

Osbore Morton, Belfast, Northern Ireland

alexa, you have no idea what freedom is. Too bad for you. What Tracey was talking about is the ability to determine what your life is like. Even though I may be about to lose my freedom because of the insanity of my fellow citizens, I am glad that I can vote for freedom one last time.

Jo, Chicago, IL, USA

those steps, that reminds me of a famous video game where the players control their character, build their home, make them eat, have friends, learn things, seeking their well-being. I don't want to be that controlled; i don"t want to be a video game puppet. if I want to be unhappy, so be it.

Ericka, France,

@Tracey, Houston, USA / TEXAS


I love you Tracey for saying what you said!

Red-Indian, Moscow, Russia

Time travelling in my DeLorean brings me happiness, as long as my flux capacitor is working. I need to go back to 1985 and recover my Mr. Fusion!

Marty McFly, Hill Valley, CA, USA

Celebrate your dependency on government.

Bill, Birmingham, USA

The number one thing you can do to stay sane?

Turn off the television. Your brain will thank with many years of fine service.

John, Grand Rapids, USA

Stanley, Haifa - love your post

Millie, London,

I suppose belief in fictional deities can make one happy...but that doesn't make it correct.

Michael, Hampton, VA, USA

Also appreciate art, classical music, dancing. I highly recommend belly dancing and salsa. Good for the body, good for the mind! And yes, I go to church as well. In fact, that is where I attend classical concerts.

Maureen, London,

The funniest selection of comments ever seen! We've gone from 5 tips to make you sane, to 'we hate Americans and relgion' in one fell swoop. Thanks for cheering me up and ticking off one from the list - the connecting with people one. Having read this garble, I can safely say, I feel stable.

Laura , Manchester,

So many of these things "determined by scientists" are already well known by Christians who stay involved in their church.

Penn, Jonesboro AR, USA

Without opinions and beliefs why comment

Dave, Gig Harbor, WA, USA SAID,
"Sorry about the American posters who think they have to inject their opinions and beliefs into every communication"

sam, ohio, usa

Join and get politically active with the BNP for stimulation.

Joan Walters, Exeter, uk

Ya gotta read a book about how to cope with medical crises (long title): It's My Crisis! And I'll Cry if I Need To: A Life Book that Helps You to Dry Your Tears and to Cope with a Medical Challenge by Yocheved Golani

It teaches you how to be happy and sane no matter what! GOOGLE the book'sblog

Barbara, S. Bend, USA

A step into sanity for many may occur when they dump their television and stop the endless bombardment of their senses by pernicious trivia and unending images of conflict and violence, whether physical violence or conflicts between pantomime characters in soap operas. Give Peace a chance, please.

Augustus Blear, Langport, UK

The Agnostic philsopher Adam Watts said; "just like the ocean waves, the universe peoples". The joy I get everyday from the awe in realizing that if you leave a cloud of hydrogen around for 15 thousand million years, it turns into my eyeballs, so that the universe can experience itself, is abundant.

john, Jacksonville, FL, US

That's funny. Work isn't mentioned. Neither is prayer. Oh well, sounds like the socialist welfare mentality is the way to go!

Bosman, Boston, USA

Why do so many americans become raving maniacs when it comes to religion?

candice , Colchester, u.k

Tracey from Houston-what are you talking about?

alexa, Doncaster, uk

RE: All the Americans preaching about God.

I'm sure that everyone reading this article knows who God is by now, and if they don't choose to believe in him/her/it, then it's a decision they've already thought about and made. Your preaching is what gives us a bad image in the rest of the world.

Kage, Omaha, USA

Coen, In all that vastness of unknown in which we live, there is but one certainty. Your blindness to that which you do not know. Without hope, there is very little chance for improvement. Try to remember that next time you find yourself at a dead-end, without a clue where to go.

David, Hollywood, CA, USA

All sounds like common sense to me.

darren, london,

Good advice on staying sane, Scientists. Comes a bit late for me, though. Pity.

Sam, Washington DC, USA

All this talk of God, prayer and religion reminds me very much of the muslim people I met in the middle-east, the same people the Americans are so afraid of and are being attacked by the same americans.
If prayers can make you happy, fine, but I want to label it as another placebo effect.

Coen Decnop, Utrecht, Netherlands

We can never be truly happy again until such times as governments are put back in their proper places, serving the people rather than controlling and manipulating them and interfering with their lives. Sadly politicians are so brute-stupid that they can't see the unhappiness theis behaviour causes.

Billy Barnett, HK,

Steve, you just brightened up my day with your hilariously cynical comment. What is sad though is that it speaks the truth.
Sanity can only be achieved through happiness. For us to achieve happiness, we have to let it engulf us naturally, rather then actively sort it.
Plus this list is ridiculous

James, Richmond, England

Happyness is not an end in itself.

Genti, London, UK

Looks like these researchers have been playing SIMS. These are almost identical to the criteria for successful game play of that computer simulation.

michele, greece,

If there's one thing guaranteed to harm your mental wellbeing, it's reading the comments posted on news websites. Scientists should study the undeniable correlation between right wing views and sociopathic impulses. The afflicted could make the world a better place by not adding comments.

James Mitchell, Brighton,

R.Sullivan - You forgot to add "Thank God everyday for your life" and then supporting everyone else's right to take it away with a bullet. Or maybe I'm confusing irony with stupidity.

Russell, West Midlands, UK

Drinking will continue until morale improves

Roger Beaumont, Bangkok, Thailand

Happiness is something you find when you're searching for something else.

Toby Donovan, New York, USA

Look what happened to grandad in Sunshine - he did a lot of gardening!

Richard, Manchester, UK

Bear in mind this yes, albeit very basic and simple information, may actually be targeted at people with mental illness, mental disorder or special requirements who may be able to digest simplified information in a world of information over load - helping people to help themselves is no bad thing.

Rebecca, London, England

I'd like to add a sixth simple thing to do to stay sane...Do not vote Labour in the next general election.

Suzy Chapman, Poole, UK

Dave, Gig Harbor, WA, USA SAID,
"Sorry about the American posters who think they have to inject their opinions and beliefs into every communication"

Uhhh Dave...... you just did that.

In the United States, it's called the First Amendment!

Juan McCain, New Orleans, USA

Fixing my bike generally causes swearing as I burst the inner tube with the cycle spanners.

Catherine, London,

Mending bikes? Would this not be putting jobs at bicycle repair shops at risk?

Sue Doughty, Twyford, UK

In other words, have a perfect life. Like many, I have no friends(all died) or family in the UK, lost my job 2 years ago, so that cuts out 80% of potential wellbeing. To offer help to strangers, you would have them running off up the road calling for the police. This is reality

Steve, London, UK

Dave, please don't apolgize for Americans, you sound like Obama. Be proud to be American, we are blessed and most people in the world would rather be here anyway.

keith, tallahassee, USA

Perhaps if God had fewer talkative Americans trying to attract his attention each and every day, he could do more about easing suffering, stopping children dying needlessly by the thousands, etc.

David, Bath,

So let me get this straight - according to quite a few of you, if we don't pray or believe in God, we can't maintain our sanity? Sounds a little crazy! I respect religious choice, but am getting really tired of these people suggesting that if I don't practise it there is something wrong with me!

Gemma, Burton, UK

This mirrors precisely my life in the last 6 mnths. On 20/4/08 my wife rang me - 'We are much happier without you, please don't come home'. So ended what I knew as my life, what also ended - 7 yrs of depression. What started - the most remarkable journey to recovery. Your list? -The path I followed.

Steve, Norwich, UK

England is gone. Berkas on Beefeaters? Sharia law is making headway in the USA, from LARIBA/American Finance Home (Freddie Mae/Fannie Mac), cafeteria-style national holidays, no bacon handling grocery clerks, even Caribou Cafe coffee houses where you can't get bacon with your eggs. God save us all.

Sarah, Atlanta,

So if Josef Fritzl had done a bit of gardening or fixed a bike, all those terrible things wouldn't have happened. An individual who's "torn apart by his desires that he cannot master” and who was content that he "managed to contain himself for a relatively long period". Needs bigger forces than that

Patrick Dillon, dublin, Ireland

Most studies on happiness I have seen do include a spiritual aspect saying those who have spiritual beliefs are happier.

Jeff, London, UK

The five points are certainly helpful, but the meditation comment is especially meaningingful. If "Tax cuts for the poorest" refers to the poorest tax-PAYERS, fine...if it means handouts to folks who don't pay taxes, not so fine. That would create a class of slaves to Government: shades of Orwell!

Bill Rolleri, New Castle, DE, USA

The five points are certainly helpful, but the meditation comment is especially meaningingful. If "Tax cuts for the poorest" refers to the poorest tax-PAYERS, fine...if it means handouts to folks who don't pay taxes, not so fine. That would create a class of slaves to Government: shades of Orwell!

Bill Rolleri, New Castle, DE, USA

So, Patricia. You're absolutley positive there is no creator? With all due respect, until we know everything about everything, we can not be certain there is not. We all live with rules and consequences. It's not about injecting our beliefs onto someone else, it's about understanding who we are.

Rick, Charlotte, NC

based on young Tracey's:

2. Oppose Socialism / Communism.
3. Support Free Speech.

Should another one be obvious displays of irony?

richard sullivan, chislehurst, kent

I respect your right to believe whatever you believe. However, you, it follows, must give me the right to do the same. I can be quite happy, thank you, with no God in my life. I follow a path of meditation kindness generosity tolerance and respect without having to be afraid of the consequences.

Patricia Smith, Beccles, United Kingdom

Sorry about the American posters who think they have to inject their opinions and beliefs into every communication....

Dave, Gig Harbor, WA, USA

It also helps if you can afford to live. Tax cuts for the poorest ...NOW!

judy, liverpool, england

The five a day fruit and veg edict is also wrong, as it is a one-size-fits-all solution based on an imaginary average person who is unlike any individual.

_Felix, Nottingham,

Joe, New York. If only 5% of Britons are sane, why do you bother to read a British newspaper?

Miriam, Villebois Lavalette, France

As the guy in the article points out, these 5 things are fairly subjective . Then they talk abouts many people being unhappy from debt but nowhere on this list do they have anything associated with ACTING RESPONSIBLY. Oh yeah - and being a 'Professor' does not mean you should be taken seriously.

Joe Katt, Brighton, UK

A good start to the day, and a good way to improve your mental well being, is having a good laugh. Tracy from Houston has just given me that.

Thanks Tracy, and I hope the rest of my day, and yours, is just as good.

Dave, Newry, Northern Ireland

I can do it with only four ...
Avoid countries where:
1. Almost everybody believes in skygods.
2. The real gods are money and power.
3. You can only get medical attention if you're rich.
4. Most households have guns.

Ian, Berwick, UK

There’s probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life.

Vince, London, UK

Stuart: why does God have to be bought into every damn conversation?
Who gives you your next breath?

steve, london, uk

Ahhhh sanity
will there ever be a more subjective state of mind?
God is a 'big boy' he can take care of himself.
Thoughtless religion kills, avoid at all cost.
Consider living a life of consideration, give and receive with a smile it's all very simple...if you're sane at least!

Jeff-o, West Part, N.America

I have my own 5 things list:
1. Thank God everyday for your life.
2. Oppose Socialism / Communism.
3. Support Free Speech.
4. Oppose Ultra Leftist Obama.
5. Support Gun Rights as per the US Constitution.
^Friends don't let friends vote socialist democrat.
Thank God I'm An AMERICAN! YEAH!

Tracey, Houston, USA / TEXAS

excellent suggestions - AND if you notice these suggestions are completley at odds with our modern lifestyles BUT quite attuned to what eastern philosophies have suggested for milenia. Maybe we are heading in the wrong direction and a crash / breakdown is exactly what modern society needs.

kiwibob, auckies, nz

If you're depressed or anxious, get yourself into a yoga class... power yoga with a heated room. It will start to solve your issues and get your body in great shape.

Thanks, India!

Joe, Seattle, USA

i think it is because one is happy that one does those 5 things. one can be happy for no reason at all. There is no need to find an excuse to be happy.

anthony wong, london, uk

Based on the suggested steps to happiness I will spy on my neighbor to check if he has a bike (curiosity ). I will then ask to borrow it (connection) learn to ride it (learning) use it to cycle regulary (exercise) then aftyer he has forgotten about it, give it away to someone else (giving)

stanley , Haifa ,

Does god have a belly button?

Bob, Woolley, USA

I am an avowed atheist. I want to challenge your previous atheist to ask rhetorically if he believes in global warming. For if he does....he is no atheist. There is no need to verbally abuse believers. Commonly it is the liberal "atheists" who feel this need & quite ironically are MMGW believers

Freemon Sandlewould, Phoenix, USA Arizona

One might say a belief in and fear of a supernatural all-powerful being who lives in the sky and is capriciously cruel is the very definition of insanity.

ljheidel, Jersey City, NJ, US

Dealing with strangers and wider communities is depressing and frustrating once one learns how many stupid people are out there. Not a recipe for well-being - it usually induces something closer to apoplexy!

John Scott, London,

I recommend reading Dr. David Hawkins, MD PHD particularly Truth vs. Falsehood. History will remember Hawkins in a class above Jung & Freud plus with the great spiritual teachers of history. It is revolutionary research material that has made my life much more rewarding.

Jeff Jones, Scottsdale, USA

The amount of comments from Americans espousing Christianity nonsense is disturbing

Richard, Singapore,

I have learnt to 'unicycle'............improves balance, concentration and teaches you to focus, it is also a very good workout-keeping your back straight and building lower body strength and much cheaper than a 'gym'!

Daryl, Melksham, UK

why does God have to be bought into every damn conversation? On the whole these sound like good ideas for enjoying a challenging life.

stuart, Taipei, Taiwan

OK, that's enough. American's input and opinions are MORE than welcome but keep your mawkish smaltzy superstitions to yourselves. We are slightly more enlightened in Europe than to continually harp on about supernatural beings and fairytales. Those that chose to believe consider it private.

Mario Kempes, Barcelona,

Pray? I'm not religious at all but all I've done for the past month is pray that US voters don't elect McCain and Palin. A win for Obama will do more to address my depressed state of mind than any amount of exercise, cooking or sex ever could. Obama in the White House will make my Christmas!

Peter Bradshaw, Liverpool, UK

Allot of chatt about God both for & against. Imo Belief in God places us alongside our peers & beneath a loving God. Adding hope, faith, a conscience, guidance, & so much more. The downside is a fear of accountability & those who use religion or its absense to try & control others makes controversy.

Nicholas , Long Island,

Probably a good idea - with one flaw. Due to low wages and high taxes people are too busy and then too tired to do much else than reach for the TV zapper or a bottle of booze.
Tell Brown to tax high earners more and low earners not at all then you might create the space for this.

Eddie Reader, birmingham, england

Yes, how about pray? "Developing relationships" is fine but how about "developing a relationship" with God? Or is that pathetically too non-PC these days? Well too damn bad.

The sex idea is good too.

Steven, New York City, USA

It is simply living in the "now", the evolutionary course of the earth.....

Sandy, Mansfield, USA

Have sex, with a colleague, on a football field, under a beautiful sky, while learning a new sex position. Now THAT will fulfill all the requirements! grin..

ann, burlington, usa

Duh.

Since when has common sense been a virtue of mental health specialists, whose children, statistically speaking, tend to be less sane than the average?

Jim Heyssel, Cooksville, Maryland, USA

I say 6 "things"...Be Thankful. You can't truly appreciate the other 5 things without being thankful. I agree with Joe, USA. Thanks and Praise....

Ruth, St. Charles, USA

This is exactly why I listen to country music...all 5 of these themes are themes that are found all throughout country songs. We moderns sometimes think we're too sophisticated for these old-fashioned ways, but studies like this show that happiness comes through living the simple life.

T-Bone, Salt Lake City, USA

I have over 1000 clients - keeping a busy schedule, even in retirement, that puts you in contact with others each day is the key. Isolation leads to bad things at every level of mental and physical health. I also see that a strong faith in God, regardless of your religion, works wonders!!

DennisinOhio, New Carlisle, OH, USA

Come away from the press of the world. Read the 4th Commandment that the Lord has given in creation. He made all things and rested on the Sabbath Day; by the way it's the 7th day, not the 1st. Saturday, not Sunday. It was not given to the Jews only but to all mankind. Now there's mental well being.

roy, Nortno,

i don't know what Bible you're reading Jim, but my Bible is filled with the greatest love story of all time.

Ted Finn, Greenville, USA

As a scientist I believe these are reliable ways to improve your life. Although, a study was surely not necessary to access this knowledge. People are silly; whether it is religion or some lame experiment done by a bunch of quacks, we always want the answers to be spoon-fed to us.

Neal, Pittsburgh, USA

Mr. Jones reads a different Bible than the one I read. Mine is all about Love and the Greatest Love of all. The points to go by are all fine , but, not to the degree that seeing God in everyday things, and being in touch with HIm are. It is in serving others that we find happiness and sanity.

Betty Martin, winston Salem, United States of America

Dear Colorado, USA: Myself and a billion other atheists will tell you that sanity is quite possible--perhaps easiest--without God.

Ubu Roi, Chicago,

And pray to the Almighty God who gave you all you have.

Thos Wagner, Morton, USA

Good advice...for the 5% of Britons who aren't already insane.

Joe, New York, US

I am surprised at the number of comments that suggest a relationship with god or the lord is necessary to lead a fulfilling and long life. One only needs to read a few passages from the Bible to quickly realize that it is filled with nothing more then hate, evilness, and horror.

jim jones, san diego, usa

God is a personal choice. Some people think it helps, others do not. Should not be a requirement or even a suggested requirement for a universal requirement in maintaining sanity or happiness.

Matt, Los Angeles, USA

Those five easy steps make so much sense.

Add to it sincere thanks while counting one's blessings.

And, a relationship with the Lord - one cannot go wrong!

Jim, Farmington, U S A

I agree with taking note of everyday moments, like taking a break from work to take a stroll around the block. Take notice of nature and little nuances you never noticed before. Think about new ideas and try to have empathy for other people or beings. Live in and for the moment. Plan to be around for the future. Remember the past things that put a smile on your face.

Brad, Denver, USA

This on the same page as the pour soul who believes LSD and Ketamine can heal depression and help mental performance? I suspect SHE has a 'garden'. In all seriousness, though, where is faith in God on this list? Without Him, sanity isn't possible. Science hasn't the answer, evidence the LSD lady.

MaryAnn, Colorado, USA

Visualization is the key. All athletes do it to enchance their games and it can completely change your life if practised daily.

Alex, London,

Talk with God. Search for "dumb as" in the King James Bible.

Terry A Davis, Las Vegas, USA

How about pray?

Joe, USA ,

How about just have sex? It seems to fulfill all five categories.

Vanguard, Dayton, USA

Frankly I think this is excellent advice... its the simple things in life that matter the most...

Brady, Novi, USA

I am 85 years young, and I find my daily prayers and devotion to God and my Church keep me active, relaxed and happy. These scientists are on edge because they delving in earth born things instead of heavenly accomplishments.

Jay Martin, Highland Park, IL, USA

Great, they've just given the NS license to create a load of "5 simple things a day" Coordinators on 50 grand a year.

Damian, London, UK