The benefits of optimism for stress management

  • Published
  • By David Hey, Ph.D.,
  • 319th Aeromedical Dental Squadron
Do you know someone who always seems to have a smile on his face and shares a positive thought with you every day? For those individuals, hardships are often seen as learning experiences and even the most miserable day holds the promise that "tomorrow will probably be better."

For those of you who are optimistic, you may well feel that you experience more positive events in your life than others, find yourself less stressed and even enjoy greater health and other benefits of optimism. This is not your imagination - science is now providing evidence that people who "look on the bright side" are better able to cope with stressful situations and are living longer, happier and healthier lives than people who are negative. 

In recent decades, mental health professionals have recognized the conscious use of positive self talk as a powerful force for changing the way individuals think, feel and behave. "We have a choice about how we think," explains Martin E.P. Seligman, Ph.D., psychologist and author of Learned Optimism. "Optimism is a learned set of skills," Seligman contends. "Once learned, these skills persist because they feel so good to use. And reality is usually on our side." Researchers like Dr. Seligman have been studying optimists and pessimists for years now, and have found that an optimistic world view carries certain advantages: 

Superior health: In a study of 99 Harvard University students, those who were optimists at 25 were significantly healthier at ages 45 and 60. Other studies have linked a pessimistic explanatory style with higher rates of infectious disease, poor health and earlier mortality. In a nutshell, pessimism can exacerbate stress which can lead to repeated failure and rejection, and this condition can lead to bouts with depression. 

Greater achievement: Seligman analyzed the explanatory styles of sports teams and found that the more optimistic teams created more positive synergy and performed better than the pessimistic ones. Another study showed that pessimistic swimmers who were given falsely poor outcomes (were led to believe they'd done worse than they had), were prone to future poor performance. Optimistic swimmers didn't have this vulnerability. (Research like this has led to some companies going out of their way to hire optimists, a practice that seems to be paying off.) 

Persistence: Optimists don't give up as easily as pessimists and are more likely to achieve success because of it. Some optimistic businessmen like Donald Trump have been bankrupt (even multiple times), but have been able to persist and turn their failures into millions. 

Emotional health: In a study of clinically depressed patients, Seligman discovered that 12 weeks of cognitive therapy, which involves reframing a person's thought processes, worked better than drugs because changes were lasting, rather than a temporary fix. Patients who had this training in optimism had the ability to more effectively handle future setbacks. 

Increased longevity: In a retrospective study of 34 healthy Hall of Fame baseball players who played between 1900 and 1950, optimists lived significantly longer. And research on women who were optimistic breast cancer patients had overall better health outcomes than pessimistic and hopeless patients. 

Less stress: Optimists also tend to experience less stress than pessimists or realists, because they believe in themselves and their abilities, so they expect good things to happen. They see negative events as minor setbacks to be easily overcome and positive events as evidence of further good things to come. Believing in themselves, they also take more risks and create more positive events in their lives. 

So go ahead and divorce the toxic way of thinking, be proactive in the way you live and take control of your life. It just may make you happier and healthier. For more on optimism and the way of thinking and dealing with stress, look for the stress management clinics offered in mid-May at the community activity center. For more information contact Dave Hey at the Health and Wellness Center (HAWC) at 747-6087.