[Withdrawal&Recovery] Don't Worry, Be Happy, Laugh a Lot- Live Longer?

December 3, 2003

Enjoy,

Misty L. Trepke

DON'T WORRY, BE HAPPY AND LAUGH A LOT – AND LIVE LONGER?

Spinal Health Column, Vol. 14, No. 8

CALL THAT GLASS " HALF FULL " FOR A FULLER, LONGER LIFE: A Mayo Clinic

study that ran over a 30-year period may indicate that optimists

live longer. Mayo psychiatrist, Toshihiko Maruta, M.D., studied 839

people over a 30-year period after each had filled out a personality

test which indicated which people were optimists and which were

pessimists. It turns out that the ones who believed " living is good "

had a significantly better chance to live longer than the " life's a

bummer " crowd. In fact, Maruta found that the farther up the

optimist scale a person was, the higher his or her survival rates

were.

Maruta sees pessimism as a health risk factor and something that

needs to be addressed. A person's chance of dying early was nearly

20% higher for every 10 points more he moved down the pessimist

scale.

Conclusions could not be easily drawn as to whether these rates

indicated a lower tendency to seek help with mental or physical

problems, ( " Why should I bother, it'll only be bad news... " ). Some

studies, like the one to follow, indicate that sadness or negative

opinions may lower the body's immune system which is crucial in

keeping us healthy.

LAUGHTER may, in fact, be GOOD MEDICINE! Dr. Lee Berk of the Loma

Linda School of Public Health in California says laughter

strengthens your immune and neuroendocrine systems. An hour spent

laughing lowers levels of stress hormones and boosts the body's

ability to fight disease.

Researchers figured grown-ups laugh between 15 and 100 times a day.

Word is that we adults should spend more time with six-year-olds who

laugh about 300 times each day. (First grade teachers have all the

luck!)

If we are going to work harder at something, our best return for

time spent is probably to work at being sillier.

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