When I first began to research the topic of whether optimism affects our health I thought about the different factors that can affect our health including such things as biological factors, social factors, psychological factors, our personalities and our knowledge of practicing good health habits. As a nurse I have seen many sick people and have taken care of people that are critically ill, observed people going into surgery and during the post-operative period wondering about what effects we ourselves can have on the outcome of any illness or medical procedure.
I have always thought about how our personality and our outlook affect us in terms of health and longevity in life.
Is there a connection between how we think about our health and illness and how we stay healthy or overcome a major illness? Does culture play a role in our health and longevity? What does social psychology teach us about our health? Is there a relationship between our social lives and how long we live?
Some time ago there was a study presented in the 60 Minutes TV show about optimism and health and overall longevity. The study was the пїЅnun studyпїЅ which examined nunsпїЅ autobiographies written in their early twenties and the correlation to how they wrote (whether in positive tones or negative tones) and how they were faring in life some fifty years later or more. It struck me at the time how interesting it was that it seemed very true that when someone was just naturally happy and optimistic they rolled with whatever life threw their way they were healthier and lived longer. This study found a very strong association between positive emotional content in autobiographies written in early adulthood and longevity 6 decades later.
The researchers reported, пїЅSuch a finding is congruent with other studies by investigators that have found relationships between longevity and emotion-related conceptsпїЅ (Danner, Snowdon, Friesen, 2001).
So, how is your optimism level? One way to become more optimistic is to give yourself 10 minutes each and every morning to think about the positive things in your life. Mentally make a list of five good things that you are grateful for. Think about those things and throughout the day when you are faced with something you consider negative bring back that memory of the positive. Turn your negative thinking into positive thinking. Every time you start thinking a pessimistic or negative thought try turning it around by rethinking what you are grateful for. Keep doing it and it will become second nature.