Call it the optimism fallacy. It’s widely thought that staying happy and stress-free helps keep you healthy. But a massive study on the link between mood and mortality suggests that happiness actually has no effect on death rates.
Other research that has found the opposite must have been mixing up cause and effect, says epidemiologist Richard Peto of the University of Oxford. “It’s likely that being ill makes you unhappy, rather than the other way round.”
The power of positive thinking has passed into folklore, helping to fuel a large self-help industry – not to mention people who like to post “inspirational” quotes on social media. Some cancer bloggers complain that common advice to “fight” their illness by staying cheerful can be unhelpful.
“Forcing optimism may have its own negative consequences,” says Gayle Sulik, who writes the “Pink Ribbon Blues” blog. “The emotional work to display optimism when a person does not feel it may add to stress.”
More here – New Scientist
That’s Fantastic news I will live forever LOL
I certainly know plenty of grumpy older people, maybe it just seems like they live forever
I know (and have known) people with terminal cancer some of whom were grumpy and some not. My main observation from this is that the grumpy ones were pretty much applauded because they died while the happy ones were applauded because of the life they led.
As for forcing optimism – in how to win friends and influence people (Written by Dale Carnegie and first published in 1936) the author makes a point that people are like mirrors – if you walk around grumpy they will be grumpy back and vice versa. I read the book some 40 years ago and can pretty much assure you that it has worked for me so far as have many other things in the book.
So if you want to live a miserable life surrounded by grumpy twats then just be a grumpy twat. Conversely if you just push out a little cheeriness then you get that back and it seems to become self reinforcing so you aren’t ‘trying’ to be happy any more… You are happy!!
Bah Humbug!!!
The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.