What does being happy have to do with your health?

Being happy isn’t just about turning lemons into lemonade or ‘always looking on the bright side of life’ like ~ Pollyanna syndrome if you will ~ it is more than that. Being more positive and optimistic can actually have a huge impact on your physical health. Want to know more…check out the Positive Acorn recent blog reviewing some of the latest research of health and happiness:

 

Health and Happiness

By Robert Biswas-Diener of Positive Acorn

www.positiveacorn.com

  

Just the other day I had the opportunity to read an as-yet unpublished report on happiness that will be presented to the United Nations next month. This presentation is part of a trend for policy makers to take happiness seriously as a focus of development. One of the most important aspects of substantiating happiness as a worthwhile concern is to outline the wide body of research showing that happiness does not just feel good, it is actually beneficial.

Of all the myriad aspects of happiness the most compelling evidence for its benefits comes from the area of health. In 2005 researchers published a paper that presented initial evidence that happiness is not only related to health, but is causally related to it. In the 7 years since that publication the research case linking health and happiness has grown. Here are some highlights:

Point 1: Pathways

There are two separate paths by which happiness affects health. First, happiness acts as a buffer against stress which, in turn, affects overall health through hormonal activity and health practices. That is, people who experience prolonged stress are more likely to suffer the ill effects of cortisol (think heart disease) and have unfavorable health practices (lower incidence of wearing seat belts and higher likelihood of drinking alcohol in excess). The other path is the direct link between positive emotion and immune and cardiovascular functioning. It is hear that researchers have found that happiness is causally related to boosted immune systems and less severe symptoms of minor illnesses such as the common cold.

Point 2: Specific health outcomes

We are well beyond some vague notion of "mind-body connection" where happiness is concerned. Researchers have looked at a variety of specific health indicators and found that higher happiness is associated with:

 

-- healthier rates of heart rate variability

-- lower risk of heart disease

-- better healing after injury

-- lower rates of obesity in adolescents

-- better diet and exercise habits

-- lower incidence of eating buttered popcorn (seriously!)

-- lower neuro-endocrine problems in middle-aged people

-- longer lives (as assessed by the use of positive words in the auto-biographies of psychologists!)

Where your own life is concerned this is good news. Happiness is not a selfish pursuit but one that is heavily implicated in a healthier and longer life. This has benefit to you and also to those people who care about you, to your workplace, and to the society in which you live. To learn more about the research on happiness and health you can read the recent review article by Ed Diener here: http://tinyurl.com/3k8eq5y

 Please share your thoughts and questions with us on our Facebook site: https://www.facebook.com/PositiveAcorn  We love to hear from you!