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Optimism has long been known to protect against a host of age-related conditions. A recent Harvard University study of more than 70,000 people found a sunny outlook helps people live up to 15 per cent longer than pessimists. It came as bad news for me, a self-confessed Eeyore. My naturally pessimistic disposition means I’ve always taken a special interest in the health-boosting effects I may be missing out on.
One study that stands out began in 1975 and involved more than 1,000 people aged over 50 who were followed for several decades. The results revealed that those most optimistic about the future lived, on average, about seven-and-a-half years longer than those who were more pessimistic. Intriguingly, mental attitude was more important for longevity than almost any other factor.
To put this in context, curing can hormones cer adds only about four years to average life expectancy. I witnessed these transformative effects a few years ago while making a film. I’d always wanted to understand why I was so much more pessimistic than my wife or children. I’d had a happy childhood, and am lucky enough to have a lovely family and an interesting job that I love. But at some point in my life, I stopped believing that tomorrow would be a better day, and began to think it probably wouldn’t.
So I decided to explore the science of personality and attempt to make myself more optimistic. But not in a superficial, ‘pullyourself-together’ type of way – rather, this was about rewiring my brain in a way that was both measurable and scientific. Naturally, I expected to fail. But I practised some mental exercises recommended by neurologists from Oxford University and I was pleasantly surprised at the outcome.
When I returned for a second round of tests months later, not only did I feel far less gloomy, my brain activity showed remarkable changes too. It was exhibiting patterns associated with optimism. I’ve detailed some of the exercises I now swear by below, so you can reap the benefits too. But first of all, to appreciate the true impact of pessimism on our health, we must understand why it exists in the first place.
While it might not be beneficial to modern humans, pessimism is deep-rooted in our biology. Like any other animal, when our primate ancestors were in the wild and at risk from predators, being wary brought clear survival advantages. But they still needed to be a bit optimistic or else they would never have headed out into the unknown in search of a mate or food. In the modern world, however, being constantly on the lookout for things that could possibly go wrong is more likely to lead to anxiety, insomnia and mental health problems.
But does being cheery lengthen your life? That’s a pretty remarkable claim. Scientists aren’t yet sure exactly why a sunny disposition increases lifespan but research shows it is probably to do with how we cope with stress – a known risk factor for heart disease, diabetes and cancer. Stress also compromises our immune system, dampening the body’s ability to cope with infections.
When the brain registers stress, it sends out signals that activate the ‘fight or flight’ reaction. A flurry of is released, preparing the body to attack or run away – blood pressure rockets and heart rate increases. Blood is directed away from the brain, immune and digestive systems and towards the big muscle groups instead.
When we’re locked in a chronic state of stress, arteries get worn down from the heart constantly beating harder and faster, putting us at risk of heart disease. Studies show this also increases the risk of serious infections and digestive conditions, due to the diversion of blood supply. One large study from Harvard found pessimists were more likely than optimists to die from cancer, heart disease, stroke, respiratory diseases and infections.
So a positive mental attitude really is worth adopting. But, as I learnt when I had my brain scanned, this is far easier for some than it is for others.
The esteemed pessimism expert I visited was Elaine Fox, a professor of psychology at Oxford University and author of the book Rainy Brain, Sunny Brain. For years, Elaine, who is also a neuroscientist, has studied how health, wealth and wellbeing are shaped by how we view the world, and whether differences in outlook relate to specific patterns of brain activity. In her lab, she asked me to don a cap fitted with numerous electroencephalographic (EEG) leads, which measure electrical activity in the brain.
‘We’re going to see whether your brain naturally tunes in to positive stuff or negative stuff,’ Elaine explained. For the first part of the test, electrical activity was measured on two sides of my brain while I was resting. This was to measure something called cerebral asymmetry. It relates to the well-known fact that people who are prone to pessimism tend to have greater activity on the right side of their frontal cortex than the left.
The same pattern is seen in infants who are anxious and cry a lot. So what about me? My results were concerning – I had three times more activity in my right frontal cortex than in my left side. Then I did another test where either happy or sad faces flashed up on a computer screen, as well as dots displayed behind them. I was asked to focus on the dots only and press a button as soon as they appeared.
The point of the exercise was to see if my brain’s response time was influenced by seeing either an angry or a happy face. In true pessimist form, my brain subconsciously reacted far more rapidly to angry faces. So, it was concluded, I am indeed a biological pessimist. Great. But all was not lost – Elaine then showed me various forms of mental training to recalibrate my brain.
Practicing mindfulness and something called cognitive bias modification – training the brain to look for positive aspects in life – could, she said, actually change my brain’s electrical activity. I did both most nights for seven weeks and I did feel a little more optimistic. But did it alter my brain? Elaine measured my cerebral asymmetry and, astonishingly, there was far less difference in activity between the right frontal cortex of my brain and the left.
Next I repeated the test with the faces to see if my reaction times had changed. I was still too quick to react to the angry faces but much less so than the first time round. Overall, my score was bang on average – a marked improvement from my previous result. Clearly, I am never going to be a raging optimist but with the help of pioneering psychologists, I now know can teach myself to become at least moderately positive.
One easy way to force yourself to focus on the positive is to write down three brilliant things that happened that day. I do this every evening. I am blessed to have a wonderfully optimistic wife, so she often features in my list. It doesn’t have to be something seismic – perhaps someone at work congratulated you on an achievement, or maybe you saw a particularly beautiful bird. If you force yourself to pick out nuggets of positivity, after a while, it will begin to come naturally.
We’ve all automatically assumed a friend or colleague hates us, simply because they didn’t telephone or email us back. But continually jumping to the worst conclusions could be detrimental to our health. Instead, force yourself to put a positive spin on the situation. Think: ‘They are probably very busy. I must make more effort with friends and colleagues that I enjoy spending time with.’
Another activity that helped my brain adopt a more optimistic nature was a computerised exercise called cognitive bias modification. Psychologists often use it to combat the negative thinking patterns that can lead to anxiety. I looked at a screen that displayed 15 blank or angry faces and one smiley face, flashing intermittently, for ten minutes. My task was to spot the smiley face and click on it. This supposedly trains the brain to search for positive images – a skill that can be generalised to everyday life.