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OPTIMUMS IN POSITIVITY
Positive emotions, such as happiness, tend to move
people toward something they seek or prefer. Negative emotions, such as fear and disgust, tend to make people move away or
withdraw. Emotions are signals for action. Positive emotions have been described as nourishing emotions.
This is because emotions such as joy seem to have beneficial effects on health.
In studies classifying people on the basis of their brain activity, people who had the greatest activation of the left anterior
region of the brain reported more positive emotions in their daily lives and when faced with life challenges.
People with more active right hemispheres reported more negative emotions. Are there health consequences
associated with persistent negative emotions, such as anger? In one study people were selected based on the results of a test
of brain wave activity, called an EEG. In addition to the EEG participants also had blood drawn in order to test for differences
in their immune systems. The group with more left hemisphere activity had immune system killer cells which were more effective
in destroying foreign elements than the group with more right hemisphere activity. Negative
emotions are those that torment a person. Anger, anxiety and depression are the afflictive emotions with the strongest link
to health problems.
If we are exposed long term to these afflictive emotions we increase our vulnerability to disease, worsen physical symptoms and impede recovery from illness or disease. Right hemisphere activity is associated with negative emotions. The right side of the brain also influences bodily structures that secrete stress hormones. If the right side of the brain is chronically overactive there appears to be a relationship between negative emotions and the secretion of stress hormones. Chronic feelings of anger, hostility and aggression have been linked with raising the risk for developing arteriosclerosis and coronary heart disease as much as five times the normal rate. The health risks from hostility appear to be more significant in men than in women because of their higher levels of testosterone. Higher levels of testosterone are often associated with a person liking to control situations which can lead to their being argumentative or even engaging in physical fighting.
Depression has adverse health consequences. Research suggests that depression is more likely to hamper the ability to recover from severe illness. For example, depressed women suffering from breast cancer have been found to have fewer natural killer cells then breast cancer sufferers who are not depressed. The job of these natural killer cells is to search for tumors as they begin to grow. Since depressed patients have fewer killer cells they are more likely to have tumors spread quickly to other parts of the body than patients who are not depressed. At Mt. Sinai Medical School in New York City research indicated that elderly patients who are not depressed were three times more likely to walk again after breaking a hip and nine times more likely to regain their previous state of health than those who were depressed. A study at the University of Minnesota indicated that patients who were seriously depressed before their bone marrow transplant were significantly more likely to die in the first year following their transplant than non-depressed bone marrow transplant recipients. A University of Montreal study found that patients treated for a first heart attack who were seriously depressed were five times more like to die than a comparable group of patients who were not depressed. People who lived near the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant after a meltdown in 1979 were very anxious and apprehensive. In a research study they were determined to have fewer T-cells and B-cells than people living in a similar neighborhood more distant from the plant. Fear and worry seemed to have a negative impact on the immune system.
A collaborative study between a special colds research unit in England and researchers at Carnegie-Mellon University found that when volunteers were exposed to cold viruses not everyone got sick. The critical factor appeared to be stress and anxiety. Only 27 percent of the people who were experiencing little stress developed a cold as compared to 47 percent of those who were under high stress. Finally, afflictive emotions not only damage our health; they also damage our interpersonal relationships which can lead to various degrees of social isolation. Not having a strong social network, in itself, can increase a person’s risk for serious health problems, especially heart attacks. Nursing home patients who are hostile tend to find themselves isolated in their rooms. Expression of anger thus becomes a health risk.
For more on Positivity go to Wellscripts.
In studies classifying people on the basis of their brain activity, people who had the greatest activation of the left anterior
region of the brain reported more positive emotions in their daily lives and when faced with life challenges.
People with more active right hemispheres reported more negative emotions. Are there health consequences
associated with persistent negative emotions, such as anger? In one study people were selected based on the results of a test
of brain wave activity, called an EEG. In addition to the EEG participants also had blood drawn in order to test for differences
in their immune systems. The group with more left hemisphere activity had immune system killer cells which were more effective
in destroying foreign elements than the group with more right hemisphere activity. Negative
emotions are those that torment a person. Anger, anxiety and depression are the afflictive emotions with the strongest link
to health problems. If we are exposed long term to these afflictive emotions we increase our vulnerability to disease, worsen physical symptoms and impede recovery from illness or disease. Right hemisphere activity is associated with negative emotions. The right side of the brain also influences bodily structures that secrete stress hormones. If the right side of the brain is chronically overactive there appears to be a relationship between negative emotions and the secretion of stress hormones. Chronic feelings of anger, hostility and aggression have been linked with raising the risk for developing arteriosclerosis and coronary heart disease as much as five times the normal rate. The health risks from hostility appear to be more significant in men than in women because of their higher levels of testosterone. Higher levels of testosterone are often associated with a person liking to control situations which can lead to their being argumentative or even engaging in physical fighting.
Depression has adverse health consequences. Research suggests that depression is more likely to hamper the ability to recover from severe illness. For example, depressed women suffering from breast cancer have been found to have fewer natural killer cells then breast cancer sufferers who are not depressed. The job of these natural killer cells is to search for tumors as they begin to grow. Since depressed patients have fewer killer cells they are more likely to have tumors spread quickly to other parts of the body than patients who are not depressed. At Mt. Sinai Medical School in New York City research indicated that elderly patients who are not depressed were three times more likely to walk again after breaking a hip and nine times more likely to regain their previous state of health than those who were depressed. A study at the University of Minnesota indicated that patients who were seriously depressed before their bone marrow transplant were significantly more likely to die in the first year following their transplant than non-depressed bone marrow transplant recipients. A University of Montreal study found that patients treated for a first heart attack who were seriously depressed were five times more like to die than a comparable group of patients who were not depressed. People who lived near the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant after a meltdown in 1979 were very anxious and apprehensive. In a research study they were determined to have fewer T-cells and B-cells than people living in a similar neighborhood more distant from the plant. Fear and worry seemed to have a negative impact on the immune system.
A collaborative study between a special colds research unit in England and researchers at Carnegie-Mellon University found that when volunteers were exposed to cold viruses not everyone got sick. The critical factor appeared to be stress and anxiety. Only 27 percent of the people who were experiencing little stress developed a cold as compared to 47 percent of those who were under high stress. Finally, afflictive emotions not only damage our health; they also damage our interpersonal relationships which can lead to various degrees of social isolation. Not having a strong social network, in itself, can increase a person’s risk for serious health problems, especially heart attacks. Nursing home patients who are hostile tend to find themselves isolated in their rooms. Expression of anger thus becomes a health risk.
For more on Positivity go to Wellscripts.
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