Answer to my last post's Pop Quiz: Beethoven.
One of my Facebook networks paid off today. BPS Research Digest "Facebooked" me (2 years ago that would have been a meaningless phrase) about an article in the upcoming issue of European Heart Journal.
A study that followed the emotional and physical health of 1,739 adults for 10 years has confirmed what we have suspected: positive affect predicts cardiovascular health independent of negative affect.
What does that mean? It means that there are two ways to decrease your odds of having a heart attack.
1 - Eliminate negative affect (depression, anxiety, hostility, etc.).
2 - Increase positive affect (overall happiness).
Those are not the same thing stated two ways. They are totally different approaches. One is a negative approach - decrease the negative. The other is a positive approach - increase the positive.
Focus on the negative, to eliminate it, and you improve heart health.
OR
Focus on the positive, to increase it, and you improve heart health.
Look for the good and promote it! You will be happy and more heart healthy.
At the risk of creating an ear worm, I quote Bobby McFerrin's 1998 song... "Don't worry. Be happy."
February 18, 2010
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7 comments:
I wonder how many people that are married are able to decrease the negative? Hahaha! I'm just kidding. Seriously though...How many people are actually able to decrease the negative opposed to the number of people able to increase the positive? I know that with medication, anxiety, depression, etc. can be improved, but realistically, wouldn't it be easier to increase the positive? If you don't focus on the negative, you have time to focus on the positive and therefore increase it.
I agree completely! It makes total sense that if you are depressed or unhappy that it puts stress on your body...including your heart! I hear laughing helps your health as well...has this been in an actually study or is it just something that your grandmother tells you??
Sarah Raunikar
I totally agree with this! Most negative people I know are sickly people. How do you Dr. Grady counsel people's problems without becoming so depressed yourself? I sure hope they have a class that teaches you to let go of emotions that are absorbed from other people.
I like this blog, I can very easily see how that would be true. Most happy people are not very sick, well they dont get sick as often as unhappy people, which i truely think it has to do with the pyschological aspects of things. If a person is unhappy mentally they are unhappy physically. Just my personal opnion though.
People who are usually in negative moods causes people around them to start acting negative as well. So people should try and stay positive to the best of their ability.
it is crazy what stress can do to the body. My father had a detached retina a few years back and it was due to stress. No reason for it to happy due to genetics. Stress can take a toll and doesn't Bob Marley sing that song :)
Don't focus on the negative let it go and chill do something happy.And um whats an ear worm?
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