A work published in the American Journal of Epidemiology reveals that women who maintain an optimistic attitude towards life are less likely to suffer from any of the conditions that cause most deaths in the Western world, including cancer , heart attacks, infections , respiratory problems and cardiovascular diseases.
The researchers, from the Harvard School of Public Health, carried out medical and psychological follow-up of more than 70,000 women between 2004 and 2012, with periodic surveys on the participants’ state of mind . In addition, they measured other factors that may influence the relationship between optimism and mortality risk: race, blood pressure, diet, and physical activity.
The results revealed that, indeed, maintaining a positive and confident attitude towards life is good for your health: during the eight years that the study lasted, the most optimistic volunteers were almost 30% less likely to die from any of the causes analyzed with respect to those who saw everything blacker.
Although other works link optimism with longer life expectancy and better cardiovascular health, this is the first to analyze the relationship with other very common causes of mortality, such as cancer or respiratory diseases.
“Most current medical efforts are focused on reducing the risk factors for the most common diseases. This work joins other scientific evidence that shows that working to improve psychological resistance to adversity can be an effective measure- and surely cheaper than others – to fight against them “, explains Eric Kim, one of the authors of the study.
It is true that in recent years we have been immersed in what some experts call ‘the tyranny of positive thinking’, overwhelmed by an avalanche of ‘ optimistic ‘ self -help slogans, which on many occasions can cause the opposite effect to what was expected and which in certain In this way they ‘force’ us to be happy and with a smile on whatever happens. Obviously, it does not seem very possible – or at least there is no evidence in this regard – that it is true that “if you think that everything will go well, in the end it will go well”, but this premise should not be confused with the conclusion of this study, which comes to say that “if you think that everything will go well, it may not go well, but your health will suffer less.”
How to help people to have a more confident attitude towards life? “Some studies have shown that optimism can be enhanced with such simple and cheap interventions as encouraging people to write a list with the best moments in each of the areas of their life: work, friends, love …”, he remarked Kaitlin Hagan, another of the authors of the work.
