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Researchers discover optimism gene
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Being happy can help you live a longer, healthier life.
Despite living with an incurable, debilitating disease, Michael J. Fox continues to amaze people with his tenacity, hope and positive spin on life. His new bestselling book, Always Looking Up: The Adventures of an Incurable Optimist, illustrates how he has turned the challenges in his life into opportunities.
Is seeing the glass half-empty or half-full just a learned behavior, or is there something in our genetic makeup that predisposes us to optimism or pessimism? University of Essex researchers recently found a link between a “brightside” gene and how people are affected by life’s stresses. Those without the gene tend to focus on the negative and are more prone to anxiety and depression, while those with it are predisposed to avoid negativity and seek out the positive.
Over 100 participants were asked to look at positive, negative and neutral images on a computer screen, which measured their reaction time. Genetic tests found that those who focused more on the positive images and ignored the negative carry a gene that regulates the mood-regulating chemical serotonin. Participants who dwelled more on the negative were found to carry shortened versions of the gene.
“The current results indicate that a genetically driven tendency to look on the bright side of life is a core cognitive mechanism underlying resilience to general life stress,” according to the study.
There are further implications to whether you see that elusive silver lining. A recent study by the University of Pittsburgh found that optimists live longer, healthier lives than their negative counterparts. Optimists also tend to be more successful and accomplish more. A negative outlook fosters anxiety, which has been linked to illness and even early death.
So, are the Eeyores of the world destined to doom and gloom? Not according to About.com's Elizabeth Scott, M.S. In her article, "How to Become More of an Optimist," Scott says that by retraining your brain to accept the positive things that happen in your life and not blame yourself for the negative, you can have a more upbeat spin on life. She offers tips to becoming more optimistic:
- Maximize your successes and minimize your failures
- Look honestly at your shortcomings so you can work on them, but focus more on your strengths
- Practice challenging your thought patterns, so they automatic it will become. Don't expect major changes in thinking right away, but do expect them to become ingrained over time.
- Remember that virtually any failure can be a learning experience, and an important step toward your next success
- Practice positive affirmations -- they really work!
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