Why it works
A-mode results in an upward-spiral of mood
What I call “A-mood” is truly amazing. At first, I couldn’t believe it. Because once your ratio starts tipping and you have many more positive than negative thoughts, you get into a really persistent positive mood. A-mode (box below) gets you right into an upward-spiral. I want to explain you here what actually happens. Let´ s start off with the downward-spiral of depression to make it more clear.
A-mode (appreciation mode)
A-mode is a stage, where you just get positive associations whatever you look at. When you are distracted or don´t think about anything…the next thing that comes to your mind is something positive. It feels like a different mindset, because it is characterized by high awareness (or mindfulness) and the feeling of “not thinking at all”. It is rather a feeling or a basic attitude of joy, appreciation and positive expectancy.
In therapy and psychology in general, people talk a lot about the downward-spiral. It is a good model to explain the connection between negative thoughts, the resulting lack of activity and depression. Everybody takes this for granted. The upward-spiral, whatsoever, is something you hardly hear of. But it seems as stable as the downward-spiral. I would see the A-mode as the extreme other end of the continuum.
