We all know one. That bubbly, can-do person with the ever-ready smile who can turn a rained-on picnic into the celebration of the decade.
Unfortunately we’re not all born optimists, though science is now suggesting that for better health, we should at least be striving for a happier attitude.
A recent study tracking 839 male and female patients from the Mayo Clinic in the US found that the pessimists (determined by personality testing) had a 19 percent higher mortality rate than optimists.
Another study at the University of California in Los Angeles discovered that unrealistically optimistic HIV-positive men (those who expected to get better despite all evidence to the contrary) lived an average of nine months longer than those with a more realistic (and, thus, more pessimistic) view of their medical condition. And a new study of 112 college students suggests that pessimists catch more colds than optimists — those who were classified as pessimists had lower levels of immunoglobulin A, an antibody that fights colds and other illnesses.
“Dealing with patients who are diagnosed with breast cancer every day, I see that patients with an optimistic outlook, irrespective of the medical treatments required, cope better,” says leading breast cancer surgeon and Shape advisory board member, Dr Carol Ann Benn. “It is imperative for doctors dealing with patients to recognise patient personalities and anxieties and to ensure that treatments are not just around surgery and oncology management, but also address the psychological make up of each person,” Dr Benn says.
“We do know that optimists experience less stress, and therefore suffer less from stress physiology, which impacts the immune system,” says Peg Baim, an associate in medicine at Harvard Medical School. Baim adds that because optimists are excellent problem solvers, they’re more likely to seek solutions that lead to good health. “So if you have a heart attack, you’re probably more likely to exercise afterward,” she says.
Even in psychology circles, optimism is being applied as therapy. “In the past we were too preoccupied with repairing damage, when our focus should be on building strength and resilience,” says positive-psychology advocate Martin Seligman, former president of the American Psychological Association.
Seligman believes that learning how to promote joy and happiness will, in turn, lessen negative feelings and depression. Because, according to him and other positive psychologists, negative thinking is itself the disease — rather than just a symptom of depression.
So if you’re not born with it, how do you access it
1. Surround yourself with positive people. “It’s hard to be an optimist in a room of pessimists — and hard to be a pessimist in a room of optimists,” says psychologist Christopher Peterson.
2. When facing a problem, don’t do anything until you think of three solutions. Commit to finding three solutions to your problem, rather than sit around ruminating about it. Chances are that one may work. “This takes you past the first two, which are often the extremes,” says Baim. “And it moves you past all-or-nothing thinking, so you can find a more creative, successful solution.”
3. Try to do the things you feel you really can accomplish, and allow yourself to feel good when you do. “To do this, you need a certain realism,” says Peterson. If you’re just getting in shape for the first time, don’t set a goal of running a 10km next month — walk a 5km instead. Your achievement will be encouraging, and then you can start training for a 5km run and tackle the 10km later.
4. Make meaning out of disappointment. Even dismal failure brings something positive, from a learning experience to a chance to develop humility. A disastrous holiday, for instance, will give you plenty of funny stories — not to mention ideas for how to make your next one better.
5. Eliminate negative thoughts. Watch for those in your daily life. If, for instance, something goes wrong and you always think it’s your fault, start editing that automatic response. Analyse your role in the problem, and then look for all the other factors as well.
6. Focus on the task. When something goes wrong, figure out what specific things you can do to make it better. “Tennis pro Billie Jean King used to say, ‘When I lose a match, it’s only research,’” Baim says. “That’s the voice of an optimist.”
7. Get help when you need it. If you can’t shake pessimism or negative thinking, seek professional help, including cognitive therapy. It’ll give you specific guidance and practice in changing your unfavourable thoughts and beliefs into positive ones. “We know it works,” Peterson says.
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