Originally published July 21 2005
Optimism doesn’t always reduce stress or disease risk, but doesn't increase them
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
According to Yahoo News, stress levels may not be reduced, and immune system function may not be increased, by having an optimistic disposition, says University of Kentucky psychologist Dr. Suzanne C. Segerstrom, who reviewed several studies on optimism as it relates to immune system function.
Having an optimistic outlook on life may not always guarantee a better reaction to stress, as measured by a person's immune status, according to a University of Kentucky psychologist.
On the other hand, it doesn't seem to do any harm to have a sunny disposition.
"Optimism has varied relationships to the immune system, depending on the context and the type of optimism," Segerstrom told Reuters Health.
Yet, she added, none of the available research suggests that optimism is associated with worse health outcomes.
Optimism has been linked to a lower risk of death among patients with head and neck cancer, for example, but not among patients with lung cancer.
This suggests that when a stressor, such as a serious health problem or other circumstance, is prolonged, it violates "optimists' positive expectations that they could terminate or control the stressors."
This leads to distress, which consequently lowers immunity, Segerstrom writes in the current issue of Brain, Behavior, and Immunity.
In one report, for example, optimistic women were unaffected by increasing stress levels during a one-week study period, whereas their pessimistic peers experienced a decline in their percentages of T cells - i.e. lower immunity.
When the stress lasted longer than a week, however, immunity declined among the optimistic women so that the two groups ended up at about the same level.
Another theory, the "engagement hypothesis," suggests that optimistic people remain engaged in difficult situations whereas pessimistic individuals disengage themselves.
A rapid solution would associate optimism with positive effect on immunity, whereas prolonged involvement in a difficult stressful situation, leading to depressed immunity, would show optimism is not protective.
Thus, "how optimism affects the immune system critically depends on the circumstances being examined," Segerstrom concludes.
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