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Mar 6, 2009 06:39 PM | 19
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A perennial grump? Always see the glass as half empty instead of half full? Might want to brighten up a bit – if, that is, you'd like to live longer. A new study says that the optimists among us may have a lower risk of heart disease and early death.
Researchers led by Hilary Tindle, an internist at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, analyzed eight years of data on 97,253 women, age 50 and over, participating in the Women's Health Initiative, a 15-year study launched in 1991 by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Their findings, released this week at a conference of the American Psychosomatic Society in Chicago: the women who were most cheery were 30 percent less likely to die of heart disease and 14 percent less likely than their pessimistic peers to die from all causes during the study period. The results were even more striking among black women; the optimists among them were 38 percent less likely to die of heart disease and 33 percent less likely to die from all causes.
The researchers caution that their findings only show a link, not a cause-and-effect relationship, between optimism and health outcomes. So what is it about Pollyannas that may make them live longer? It could be that optimistic people tend to be healthier in general; they are more likely to be slim and physically active and less likely to smoke, Tindle says.
"Optimistic people seem to seek medical advice and follow it," she says, citing research showing that optimists are inclined to stick with diet programs prescribed by their docs. "They [also] have good social networks and strong social relationships," which could help them cope with chronic stress, a risk factor for heart disease.
So are pessimists doomed to die early? Not necessarily, Tindle says. This is just one study, and more research is needed to get to the bottom of that question.
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Tags:
optimism,
heart disease,
longevity,
early death
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19 Comments
Add CommentSo I just wonder how the researchers defined 'optimism' in this study?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe writer rather seems to have missed the point. We unhappy few have no reason at all to wish to extend our lives by so much as one day longer than necessary. Our gravestones will read "Thank God that's over!" So it looks like God's on our side this time! (Makes a change!)
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thiso good lord....how would YOU define optimism? You can't be that dumb
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisDo optimists live longer?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisNo, they're just so annoying you think they're around longer.
I'm a positive psychology based coach and speaker, with a masters degree in the field. There are many benefits to thinking optimistically. Optimists are on average healthier, better liked by peers, take better care of their health (including preventative medicine) and have better relationships. Optimistic students get better grades and optimistic sales people make more money. I will research how Tindle defined optimism,nevertheless, it's different than just cheery, happy go lucky disillusionment. It's the belief that good things can and will happen in the future. And when bad things happen, they aren't permament. This is critical.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisHere is an article I wrote on learning to think more optimistically. http://www.emiliya.com/articles.html#anchor3
Emiliya Zhivotovskaya, MAPP, RYT
www.emiliya.com
I think people who are optimistic take life's greatest debacles with confidence and prove themselves as healthy in the world .
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI wonder if people who are more optimistic have more reason to be optimistic - more financial, familial and marital stability, for example, could all in it's own right extend life, with optimism being a natural side effect, not a causative agent.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisDon't you think it's the other way around? That healthy people are optimistic people? I'm a diabetic(type 1) and would generally consider myself to be a cheery optimist but when my blood sugar levels are out of balance I get depressed, tired and negative. I get a lot of physical indications that my blood sugar is too high, like thirst etc. but I've also started measuring my glucose if I feel down or depressed (even if I don't feel the physical indications) and almost every time I find it's too high and my mood can be back on top within half an hour after an injection. The impact that the few drops of insulin has on my state of mind is really remarkable!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisTherefore, my theory is that a lot of people who suffer from depression have some kind of chemical imbalance in their bodies that they might be unaware of. When I'm out of balance I find it that much harder to make healthy choices for my body. Therefore it's easy to get trapped in a bad habit, a destructive cycle of bad health and pessimism. That should apply to other people as well.
I think good physical health should be the priority in dealing with one's mental problems and pessimistic state of mind (instead of starting by going to the shrink and analyze yourself and dwell with childhood traumas or whatever might be bothering you). Everybody has issues however grave or small they may be. Healthy people deal with them better.
So, I think that good health leads to optimism more than optimism leads to good health. Optimism is conditional.
Susanne makes an excelent point, sick people are more pessimistic than healthy people. In general, life sucks for the sick. This is nothing new.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIn my experience it is the grumpy people that live longer. I'm sure everyone knows that one grumpy old guy that JUST WON'T DIE! Seems to me like we could all live a lot longer if we sat on our porches and yelled at every teenager who passed by.
Read the book " The Secret " and you will understand how positive thinking works. It has worked for me in a lot of ways.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI don't necessarily think the author was dealing with depression....optimism and pessimism I believe were the standards. You can still be sick and optimistic, though much more difficult. Maybe you could sit on the porch and yell positive things to the teenagers, would be a good qualitative study I believe. You have control over how you feel, just get over life and get on living it. It sucks for everyone and besides buddha tells us the struggle does in the end make us happy.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI don't think the author was dealing with depression vs optimism. I believe it was pessimism (which we can control) vs. optimism. I think sitting on the porch and yelling positive accolades to teenagers would be an interesting qualitative study. Buddha reminds us that life is a struggle and that the struggle makes us happier. Life sucks for everyone, lets face it, sick or not we got issues. It is all in our minds to control these things. Anger, Denial, and attachment, the 3 poisons in our society. Have fun and enjoy this day and embrace your struggle.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI believe being stressful and pessimistic can cause heart disease. My mom almost died of heart failure, because she was so worried, although her heart condition was ok.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisi agree with susanne: health comes first. try a little fish oil or magnesium taurate or chromium picolinate or whey protein or B complex or SAMe or zinc or theanine/GABA or vitamin D and E. each of these separately have fostered improvements in mood, so just think what all of them would do. a positive attitude is often a manifestation of health. even the curmudgeons of the world might consider wanting to live longer if they felt good. i am a living example of a sad sack turned optimist by using high quality nutrition and supplements.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisi agree with susanne: health comes first. try a little fish oil or magnesium taurate or chromium picolinate or whey protein or B complex or SAMe or zinc or theanine/GABA or vitamin D and E. each of these separately have fostered improvements in mood, so just think what all of them would do. a positive attitude is often a manifestation of health. even the curmudgeons of the world might consider wanting to live longer if they felt good. i am a living example of a sad sack turned optimist by using high quality nutrition and supplements.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisi agree with susanne: health comes first. try a little fish oil or magnesium taurate or chromium picolinate or whey protein or B complex or SAMe or zinc or theanine/GABA or vitamin D and E. each of these separately have fostered improvements in mood, so just think what all of them would do. a positive attitude is often a manifestation of health. even the curmudgeons of the world might consider wanting to live longer if they felt good. i am a living example of a sad sack turned optimist by using high quality nutrition and supplements.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisi agree with susanne: health comes first. try a little fish oil or magnesium taurate or chromium picolinate or whey protein or B complex or SAMe or zinc or theanine/GABA or vitamin D and E. each of these separately have fostered improvements in mood, so just think what all of them would do. a positive attitude is often a manifestation of health. even the curmudgeons of the world might consider wanting to live longer if they felt good. i am a living example of a sad sack turned optimist by using high quality nutrition and supplements.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAlas, I have always known that I would die soon.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe real question seems to be, is there a connection between the body and the mind? To which I would say, but, of course!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this