Is Positive Thinking Bad For Your Health?
Positive Thinking
In recent years, many experts have suggested that there are many health benefits to living a life with a positive attitude. People with a positive attitude can be healthier because they have an optimistic view of their future. However, researchers took this further and examined the effects of having more Positive Thought as to how long people live. And the findings held quite clearly.
Those with more positive thinking about aging actually lived longer, on average. This may come as a surprise to some. After all, older adults have probably been told that physical health is not a priority in life. As a result, many older adults suffer from chronic disease, which can often take a lot out of them. However, those with optimism about their futures were less likely to suffer from chronic disease. The results were reported in a paper published in the March 2010 edition of Archives of Internal Medicine.
Another aspect of the results was that those with more positive thoughts were not as depressed as those with a negative attitude. The flip side of the coin was true on the other side as well. Those who thought negatively about their futures were not as happy as those with optimism. So the results indicate that the way we think about our futures can have a direct impact on our physical health. Of course, those with a negative outlook tend to live shorter lives, too.
Is Positive Thinking Bad For Your Health?
Those with negative thoughts also have more physical symptoms. They report pain more often, they smoke more cigarettes, drink more alcohol, and they are more stressed. Those with positive thoughts live in better physical health. And, they tend to think more positively, to some extent, as well.
But, those with negative thoughts also score more negative physical symptoms than those with optimism. The study didn’t directly state that type of thinking was more detrimental to one’s physical health. It only stated that those who thought optimistically were not as stressed as those with a pessimistic outlook. Although, the difference was noted, researchers suggested that it might be the case.
However, this doesn’t mean that optimism or pessimism can’t affect how you feel. You just have to learn how to recognize the difference between being pessimistic or positive. You don’t have to make your decisions based on what other people say. And, you certainly don’t have to use positive self-talk, either.
