Optimism

Optimism

A Proven Power for Health

You sometimes wonder whether that cheerful woman in the office down the hall is missing a few marbles. Even when she goes through hard times, she always seems to find a positive spin on things. You ask yourself, "Doesn't she ever feel down like the rest of us? Are optimists oblivious to the dark side of life?"

Not at all. Optimism is not about ignoring what's real, but becoming aware of your thoughts about why things happen, says Martin Seligman, Ph.D., professor of psychology and director of clinical training at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia and author of Learned Optimism. "And there's a good chance that optimism may keep you healthier during the course of middle age and old age."

What's really at the heart of optimism, Dr. Seligman says, is how you explain negative experiences to yourself. When something bad happens to a pessimist, she's likely to get into a sort of dark and hopeless mental muttering that has her thinking things like "It's all my fault, it's permanent and everything is ruined."

The optimist's explanation? It was bad luck, it will pass and I'll handle it differently next time because I learn from my experiences. With this kind of reasoning, an optimist feels a greater sense of control over her future--and her health.

Comeback Power

Optimism can give you real resilience as you get older. "Research has shown that optimistic attitudes and beliefs are associated with fewer illnesses and quicker recovery from illness," says Christopher Peterson, Ph.D., professor of psychology at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and author of Health and Optimism.

"You're not going to find an 85-year-old with a smiley button who looks 20," Dr. Peterson says. But since optimists are more likely to feel that they can take charge of their health and not just passively slide into old age, they tend to take better care of themselves. "They sleep better, don't drink or smoke as much, exercise regularly and are more free from depression," he says.

So who's likely to live longer and age more gently? If you're fatalistic and believe there's nothing you can do to slow down aging, you may be less motivated to stay away from age-accelerating habits, Dr. Peterson says. But optimists tend to make healthier choices.

"And when optimists do fall ill," Dr. Peterson says, "they go to the doctor and shut down and rest, believing this will make a difference. They stay home, drink fluids and follow the doctor's advice. They allow themselves to heal."

Attitude Is Everything

Optimism's negative sibling--pessimism--may lower your resistance to illness, increase your chances of heart disease and even shorten your life, researchers say.

Pessimism may weaken the immune system. That's the finding of researchers from Yale University, the University of Pennsylvania and the Prince of Wales Hospital in Sydney, Australia. They interviewed 26 women and men to find out what kind of explanations they gave for their health problems and then tested their immune cell activity. The researchers found that the pessimists had higher levels of T-suppressor cells, which interfere with the action of cells that boost immunity. The researchers don't know the exact mechanics of how pessimism inhibits immunity, but they do think it might be an important risk factor in immune-related diseases.

Your immune system isn't the only part of the body that's suppressed by pessimism. Dr. Seligman described pessimism as a kind of depression--and one study shows that a heavy heart is more prone to heart disease--in men, at any rate. Researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta tracked the health and attitudes of 2,832 adults for 12 years. They found that those with the most negative and hopeless attitudes were at greater risk of developing heart disease. Although the study included only men, depressed women may be more vulnerable, too, Dr. Seligman says.

Many studies have indicated that women are diagnosed with depression more often than men. The reasons given vary widely--from genetic differences, stress levels and unequal salaries to women's greater willingness to recognize their depression and seek help for it.

But psychologist Susan Nolen-Hoeksema, Ph.D., of Stanford University in California has reviewed hundreds of studies on depression and gender and concludes that most of these reasons are not supported by convincing evidence. Instead, she offers another explanation for why more women are depressed than men.

An important clue may lie in the different ways women and men respond to depressing thoughts and situations, Dr. Nolen-Hoeksema suggests. Studies have also shown that men tend to take action to distract themselves when they are depressed. But women more often analyze and brood over their state--a ruminating process that may deepen pessimistic feelings.

And there's a lot to be said for cultivating optimistic attitudes now, before the challenges of old age arrive. Some researchers speculate that pessimism begins to have a negative effect on health in middle age, around ages 35 to 50. And other studies show that if you're feeling grim, you might even expect an early visit from the grim reaper.

Researchers at the Center for Gerontology and Health Care Research at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, studied the responses of 1,390 older women and men to questions about their daily lives and the problems of aging. Those who believed their problems were the inevitable result of aging had a 16 percent higher death rate over the next four years than those who believed their problems were due to a specific, treatable condition.

"People who are saying their problems are just due to age are saying 'I have something that's not really treatable,' " says William Rakowski, Ph.D., the gerontologist who co-authored the study at Brown. "Whereas, the optimists--people who say it's a specific, treatable condition--are saying 'I can do something about it.' "

Learning How to Hope

What if grubbing in the garden of gloom has been your lifelong habit? You can learn to cultivate a more upbeat attitude, and it's never too late to start, says Dr. Seligman. "I'm a born pessimist myself, so I've had to learn these techniques, and I use them every day," he says.

Notice how your friends feel. Look at your friends' attitudes, says Dr. Peterson. "Optimism and pessimism are both contagious states," he says. "So to 'catch' optimism, associate as much as possible with positive people."

Negotiate with negative types. Likewise, you can't be the only optimist in a family of pessimists, Dr. Peterson says. You're likely to cave in, go numb under the onslaught and become a pessimist yourself. So if it's a family member who spouts negativity all day long, try saying "It really drives me crazy when you talk like this. Can we be negative once a week instead?"

Savor your successes. We're trained to be modest, says Dr. Peterson, but there's no need to belittle your own triumphs with "I was just lucky." Instead, you can say to yourself "I worked really hard, I did a good job and I'm proud of myself," he says. That's the optimistic way of thinking about good events that you brought about by your own efforts.

Face facts, but never give up. Optimism doesn't mean you're not in touch with hard facts, says Dr. Rakowski. "Be realistic about what's happened in your life: 'Yes, I've had it tough'; 'I was a victim of circumstance there'; 'That was my fault'; 'That wasn't'; 'I did this well.' " And then use optimism to resolve that, in spite of it all. Tell yourself "With effort, initiative and good luck, I will still have good things to look forward to," he says.

Make the best of hard times. Some people face a great deal of adversity and still call themselves optimists, Dr. Rakowski says. Why? "When you're optimistic, you're also believing 'I can make the most of what I've got,' " he says. "Sometimes you need to redefine your objectives and let go of an initial expectation. Then your basic objective is still to make the most of what you have."

Distance yourself from your beliefs. It is essential to realize that your beliefs are just that--beliefs, not facts, Dr. Seligman says. If a jealous rival at work said to you "You're a terrible manager and you'll never make it in this business," you'd know to ignore her insults. But what about the spiteful things we say to ourselves? ("I can't balance the checkbook. I'm so stupid.") They can be just as baseless as jealous insults, only it's bad thinking--a mental reflex you don't have to find convincing. "Check out the accuracy of your reflexive beliefs and argue with yourself," he says.

Learn your optimism A-B-C. Three things happen when you face a tough situtation, and A-B-C is a good way to remember the pattern, says Dr. Seligman. You respond to adversity with a belief, which determines the consequence. For example, you're on the phone trying to make a sale, and your first caller hangs up on you--adversity. When you respond with an optimistic belief--"Oh well, that's one no out of the way. It brings me closer to the yes,"--then the likely consequence is that you'll feel relaxed and energetic. Compare that with a knee-jerk negative belief--"I'll never get any better at this"--which produces an equally negative consequence--you feel lousy about yourself.

Derail negative thoughts. When you become aware of your negative thoughts, you can learn to stop pessimistic thinking. When a persistent negative thought runs repeatedly through your mind, try techniques like these: Smack your palm hard on your desk and say--loudly--"Stop!" Or put a rubber band around your wrist and snap it every time you have the thought. (One wag says this helps you "snap out of it.") Or write down the thought and set aside a time to think it over later. These techniques can stop a bout of pessimism before it starts.

Give a little. If painful circumstances have made you unhappy, doing what you can to help others may give you a more optimistic view, says Dr. Rakowski. Whether you do volunteer work or simply offer to listen to a friend's troubles, you can find a way to give, he says. There's a real sense of fulfillment in giving that can lift you out of your pain, he says.

Get help for depression. "If you're a real pessimist, odds are you're fairly depressed," says Dr. Peterson. "It's a good bet that undergoing therapy for depression will make you healthier and improve your life." Cognitive behavioral therapy, during which you learn to challenge defeatist ways of thinking, is particularly helpful in turning depression around, he says. Chronically unhappy people do a running negative commentary on their lives that they're often not aware of, he says. A therapist can teach you ways to divert yourself when you get in these moods. These techniques won't reduce the frequency of episodes of depression you have, but will shorten them, he says. And in some cases, a prescription for antidepressant medication may help.