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November 15, 2013 • Nicole Vickers  
Filed under Student Life

A high number of students experience burnout, long-term exhaustion and diminished interest in work at some point in their college careers. Psychology professor Dawn Salgado is now offering a positive psychology course that not only teaches students how to manage their time, but also how to progress as individuals.

Burnout is caused by high levels of stress, not keeping to a healthy schedule and tensions in relationships, among other factors.

Salgado said these factors could also cause people to become depressed or ‘stuck’ in some point in their life.

Positive psychology is the practice and study of a change in the mindset in people so that they are able to get out of their ruts and move from a negative to a positive.

A considerable amount of research has been conducted that has proven the methods of positive psychology to be true and to have shown that positive psychology has always been around but has just recently gained scientific research to back it.

The course that Salgado is offering has two main parts: experimentation and research. In the experimentation section, students are able to use the methods of positive psychology and see how it works for them as individuals.

The other half is entirely research and reading. Salgado said students need the research to back up the findings in order to have that knowledge base.

Junior Michael Monahan is currently in this course and said that with his busy life, there are plenty of factors that have him stressed.

He said the techniques that he learns not only help him de-stress, but also allow him to see more of the positives throughout his day that he wouldn’t have seen had he not taken the course.

“If everyone were able to take 20 minutes out of his or her day to just relax or meditate, then everyone would benefit,” said Monahan

Positive psychology is currently a two-credit course.

Salgado plans to have it offered every other year.

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