Why being an
optimist is good for your heart
By
Sandee LaMotte, CNN Updated 11:00 AM ET, Fri September 27, 2019
Q: What
can you practice to be happier? –
A: All of them. Studies tell us that writing down what we are grateful for several times a week, laughing and surrounding ourselves with positive, nurturing relationships and looking for the positive as often as possible are great ways to boost mood.
A: All of them. Studies tell us that writing down what we are grateful for several times a week, laughing and surrounding ourselves with positive, nurturing relationships and looking for the positive as often as possible are great ways to boost mood.
Q: At
which age are you most likely to be happy? –
A: Old age. While most people believe happiness declines with age, studies show that's not true. A large Gallup poll found 85-year-olds to be more satisfied with themselves than 18-year-olds, and another study found that happiness and enjoyment dip in middle age and rise again in old age.
A: Old age. While most people believe happiness declines with age, studies show that's not true. A large Gallup poll found 85-year-olds to be more satisfied with themselves than 18-year-olds, and another study found that happiness and enjoyment dip in middle age and rise again in old age.
Q:
Which experiences will make you happiest? –
A: It depends on your age. Younger people gain more happiness from uncommon, extraordinary experiences, while older people savor simple, ordinary experiences that fill up daily life.
A: It depends on your age. Younger people gain more happiness from uncommon, extraordinary experiences, while older people savor simple, ordinary experiences that fill up daily life.
Q:
Which of these purchases might make you happiest? –
A: Family games and traveling. Studies show that spending on meaningful activities that bring us closer to family and friends or boost self-confidence makes us the happiest, such as sharing travel experiences, playing board games or learning musical instruments.
A: Family games and traveling. Studies show that spending on meaningful activities that bring us closer to family and friends or boost self-confidence makes us the happiest, such as sharing travel experiences, playing board games or learning musical instruments.
Q:
Which activity could train your brain to be happy? –
A: All of them. In fact, happy brain expert Dr. Richard Davidson says his data show that if a person sits quietly and thinks about kindness and compassion for a half-hour a day, their brain will show noticeable changes in just two weeks.
A: All of them. In fact, happy brain expert Dr. Richard Davidson says his data show that if a person sits quietly and thinks about kindness and compassion for a half-hour a day, their brain will show noticeable changes in just two weeks.
Who
doesn't want to be happy? – As research into our mysterious
gray matter continues to explode, scientists are getting ever closer to
understanding what creates a calm, contented and happy brain. Answer these
eight questions to see whether your brain is wired to be happy or if you might
need to practice positivity.
Q:
Which picture appeals to you the most? –
A: If you picked the kitten or pup, your brain may be wired to be happy. Studies show that people who have happy brains respond more to positive things than negative or neutral ones.
A: If you picked the kitten or pup, your brain may be wired to be happy. Studies show that people who have happy brains respond more to positive things than negative or neutral ones.
Q:
Which picture is most positive? –
A: All of them. They all have positive elements. No one is hurt, and everyone has access to help. Happy people, according to happiness researcher and author Rick Hanson, look for the positives in each experience and try to hold on to those.
A: All of them. They all have positive elements. No one is hurt, and everyone has access to help. Happy people, according to happiness researcher and author Rick Hanson, look for the positives in each experience and try to hold on to those.
Q:
Which of these is critical to your happiness? –
A: None of them. Happiness researcher Sonja Lyubomirsky says that although all of these can contribute to contentment, they are also part of The Myths of Happiness. She defines those as "myths that assure us that lifelong happiness will be attained once we hit the culturally confirmed markers of adult success. This restricted view of happiness works to discourage us from recognizing the upside of any negative life turn and blocks us from recognizing our own growth potential."
A: None of them. Happiness researcher Sonja Lyubomirsky says that although all of these can contribute to contentment, they are also part of The Myths of Happiness. She defines those as "myths that assure us that lifelong happiness will be attained once we hit the culturally confirmed markers of adult success. This restricted view of happiness works to discourage us from recognizing the upside of any negative life turn and blocks us from recognizing our own growth potential."
A: All
of them. Studies tell
us that writing down what we are grateful for several times a week, laughing
and surrounding ourselves with positive, nurturing relationships and looking for
the positive as often as possible are great ways to boost mood.
Q: At
which age are you most likely to be happy? –
A: Old age. While most people believe happiness declines with age, studies show that's not true. A large Gallup poll found 85-year-olds to be more satisfied with themselves than 18-year-olds, and another study found that happiness and enjoyment dip in middle age and rise again in old age.
A: Old age. While most people believe happiness declines with age, studies show that's not true. A large Gallup poll found 85-year-olds to be more satisfied with themselves than 18-year-olds, and another study found that happiness and enjoyment dip in middle age and rise again in old age.
Q:
Which experiences will make you happiest? –
A: It depends on your age. Younger people gain more happiness from uncommon, extraordinary experiences, while older people savor simple, ordinary experiences that fill up daily life.
A: It depends on your age. Younger people gain more happiness from uncommon, extraordinary experiences, while older people savor simple, ordinary experiences that fill up daily life.
Q:
Which of these purchases might make you happiest? –
A: Family games and traveling. Studies show that spending on meaningful activities that bring us closer to family and friends or boost self-confidence makes us the happiest, such as sharing travel experiences, playing board games or learning musical instruments.
A: Family games and traveling. Studies show that spending on meaningful activities that bring us closer to family and friends or boost self-confidence makes us the happiest, such as sharing travel experiences, playing board games or learning musical instruments.
Q:
Which activity could train your brain to be happy? –
A: All of them. In fact, happy brain expert Dr. Richard Davidson says his data show that if a person sits quietly and thinks about kindness and compassion for a half-hour a day, their brain will show noticeable changes in just two weeks.
A: All of them. In fact, happy brain expert Dr. Richard Davidson says his data show that if a person sits quietly and thinks about kindness and compassion for a half-hour a day, their brain will show noticeable changes in just two weeks.
Who
doesn't want to be happy? – As research into our mysterious
gray matter continues to explode, scientists are getting ever closer to
understanding what creates a calm, contented and happy brain. Answer these
eight questions to see whether your brain is wired to be happy or if you might need
to practice positivity.
Q:
Which picture appeals to you the most? –
A: If you picked the kitten or pup, your brain may be wired to be happy. Studies show that people who have happy brains respond more to positive things than negative or neutral ones.
A: If you picked the kitten or pup, your brain may be wired to be happy. Studies show that people who have happy brains respond more to positive things than negative or neutral ones.
Q:
Which picture is most positive? –
A: All of them. They all have positive elements. No one is hurt, and everyone has access to help. Happy people, according to happiness researcher and author Rick Hanson, look for the positives in each experience and try to hold on to those.
A: All of them. They all have positive elements. No one is hurt, and everyone has access to help. Happy people, according to happiness researcher and author Rick Hanson, look for the positives in each experience and try to hold on to those.
Q:
Which of these is critical to your happiness? –
A: None of them. Happiness researcher Sonja Lyubomirsky says that although all of these can contribute to contentment, they are also part of The Myths of Happiness. She defines those as "myths that assure us that lifelong happiness will be attained once we hit the culturally confirmed markers of adult success. This restricted view of happiness works to discourage us from recognizing the upside of any negative life turn and blocks us from recognizing our own growth potential."
A: None of them. Happiness researcher Sonja Lyubomirsky says that although all of these can contribute to contentment, they are also part of The Myths of Happiness. She defines those as "myths that assure us that lifelong happiness will be attained once we hit the culturally confirmed markers of adult success. This restricted view of happiness works to discourage us from recognizing the upside of any negative life turn and blocks us from recognizing our own growth potential."
Q: What
can you practice to be happier? –
A: All of them. Studies tell us that writing down what we are grateful for several times a week, laughing and surrounding ourselves with positive, nurturing relationships and looking for the positive as often as possible are great ways to boost mood.
A: All of them. Studies tell us that writing down what we are grateful for several times a week, laughing and surrounding ourselves with positive, nurturing relationships and looking for the positive as often as possible are great ways to boost mood.
(CNN)Looking
on the bright side could save your life.
People
who look at life from a positive perspective have a much stronger shot at
avoiding death from any type of cardiovascular risk than pessimistic people,
according to a new meta-analysis of nearly 300,000 people published Friday in the medical
journal JAMA.
"We
observed that an optimist had about a 35% lower risk of major heart
complications, such as a cardiac death, stroke or a heart attack, compared to
the pessimists in each of these studies," said cardiologist Dr. Alan
Rozanski, a professor of medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount
Sinai, who is lead author of the study.
In
fact, the more positive the person, the greater the protection from heart
attacks, stroke and any cause of death, said Rozanski, who is also the chief
academic officer for the department of cardiology at Mount Sinai St. Luke's.
"The
more pessimistic (a person was), the worse the outcome," he added.
It's
not just your heart that's protected by a positive outlook. Prior research has
found a direct link between optimism and other positive health attributes, such
as healthier diet and exercise behaviors, a stronger immune system and better lung function, among others.
Traits of optimists
Why
would that be true? Optimists tend to have better health habits, Rozanski
said. They're more likely to exercise,
have better diets and are less likely to smoke.
"Optimists
also tend to have better coping skills and are better problem-solvers," he
continued. "They are better at what we call proactive coping, or
anticipating problems and then proactively taking steps to fix them."
But
don't get confuse optimism with happiness, as there is a key difference.
"Happiness
is an emotion. It's transient," Rozanski said. "People may have more
moments of happiness than others ... but it's just a description of a
feeling."
Optimism,
however, is a mindset, Rozanski says.
"It's
how you look at the world," he says. "Optimists are people who expect
good things to happen to them, and pessimists are those who expect bad things
to happen to them."
In
other words, happiness may come and go but optimism is a character trait -- one
that can be measured quite accurately with a series of statements called the "life orientation
test."
The
test includes statements such as, "I'm a believer in the idea that 'every
cloud has a silver lining,'" and, "If something can go wrong for me,
it will." You rate the statements on a scale from highly agree to highly
disagree, and the results can be added up to determine your level of optimism
or pessimism.
Learning optimism
What if
you take the test and discover you're a pessimist? Don't fret. Studies show you
can actually train yourself to be a positive person.
"People
can change their thought patterns, but like everything else, it's a muscle that
needs to be developed," Rozanski said.
Using
direct measures of brain function and structure, one study found it only
took 30 minutes a day of meditation practice
over the course of two weeks to produce a measurable change in the brain.
"When
these kinds of mental exercises are taught to people, it actually
changes the function and the structure of their brain in ways that we think
support these kinds of positive qualities," said neuroscientist Richard
Davidson, professor of psychiatry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and
the founder and director of the Center for Healthy Minds.
One of
the most effective ways to increase optimism, according to a meta-analysis of existing studies,
is called the "Best Possible Self" method, where you imagine or
journal about yourself in a future in which you have achieved all your life
goals and all of your problems have been resolved.
Another
technique is to practice gratefulness. Just taking a few minutes each day to
write down what makes you thankful can improve your outlook on life. And while
you're at it, list the positive experiences you had that day, which can also
raise your optimism.
"And
then finally, we know that cognitive behavioral therapies are very effective
treatments for depression; pessimism is on the road toward depression,"
Rozanski said. "So you can apply the same principles as we do for
depression, such as reframing. You teach there is an alternative way to think
or reframe negative thoughts, and you can make great progress with a pessimist
that way."
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