Learn to use optimism to prevent diseases
It is always better to face a problem with optimism that with pessimism. Seeing the good side of everything is a mechanism that prevents people from joining in the sadness that comes with dealing with the hardest episodes in life. And it also allows maintaining an optimal state of health to people by keeping several diseases away, as highlighted in the study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology.
A work that follows another one initiated in 1976 where it was wanted to verify how the optimism could relate to a good state of health. For this, two new batches of surveys were carried out over the years 2004 Y 2008 whose results were compared with the mortality rates recorded in 2006 and 2012.
Reduction of mortality risk
A total of 70,000 participants They joined this new batch of the study conducted in the years before mentioned. In this survey it was necessary to show agreement or discrepancy with statements such as "in times of uncertainty I always hope for the best". Those who showed greater agreement with optimistic maxims also recorded a lower risk of mortality.
In particular, the risk of mortality was reduced by up to 30% in the participants who made up the 25% most optimistic sample of this study. A result that opens the door to possible future interventions with activities as simple as patients write on paper those characteristics that make the best of themselves in order to get their most optimistic side.
A warning also for parents to work on optimism within the family to introduce these characteristics in the personality of the little ones in order to help them in their future. A person who sees life with joy and knows how to overcome setbacks is less likely to develop problems such as depression.
Work optimism at home
Given the benefits of optimism in the health status of people, the need to work on the development of this characteristic is evident. Here are some tips for this:
- Manage your pessimistic attitudes. What situations make a pessimistic attitude appear? Discovering them and working to put a stop to them from the beginning will help to prevent them at the root and start shifting the prism towards a more optimistic perspective.
- Feed optimism. If the child shows an optimistic attitude, parents should reward this behavior to make sure that the little ones repeat it in the future.
- Help to get to know each other. We all have virtues and defects, but often the former are forgotten to the detriment of the latter. Parents should help their children know what makes them special and unique.
- Be the best example. The parents are the mirror where the little ones look. If the children observe an optimistic behavior, they will copy it and internalize it as a characteristic of their own to add to their personality.
Damián Montero
