With the pandemic still going strong, our lives have changed dramatically. Yes, and it includes our happiness. So concerning people's mental health, the University of Bristol launched a  Science of Happiness course.

It's the first time that a university launched a class related to happiness to educate students about the mechanism behind making people happier. Additionally, Bristol had high suicide cases in 2017. Not only that, students in Bristol reportedly are set to wait three times longer to access mental health services than the national average. 

The course leader is Professor of Developmental Psychology in Society, Bruce M. Hood. He started the course right after seeing the ramifications of mental health among young people. 

A Yale course inspired him. "By coincidence, a former student of mine, Laurie Santos, had developed a course at Yale University that inspired me to do something for our students," he said. 

"The combination of theory and practice with regular meetings with other students appears to be a formula that increases self-reports of wellbeing," notes Hood. "I also think that teaching them about the importance of resilience, especially concerning exam performance, is critical."

It is such an exciting course.  Although mental health always has a huge point to discuss, the pandemic significantly influences people's mental health. Especially in some Asian countries, mental health issues are still taboo. But during this pandemic, many people are urged to stay at home and even 'lose contact with the world. It is not something that humans are used to. So some people are affected by the pandemic mentally. It is getting hard to maintain happiness. The course is a great learning experience, especially for students keen to learn about mental health issues. 

With this course, students would be graded as participation rather than an examination mark. Students' happiness is the important thing in this class. It is a great opportunity, especially for those majoring in psychology and looking for a new experience in the university year. It is more than just a course; it is just a fulfilling thing to do as well.