Laughing, surrounding yourself with positive people and positive words – this is part of the Japanese concept of ikigai, which stands for a fulfilled and happy life.
(Photo: AP)
Voltaire already knew: “Since it is very beneficial for health, I have decided to be happy.” Ikigai, a philosophical concept from Japan about a fulfilled and happy life, also follows this principle.
Among other things, it is based on the idea of surrounding yourself with optimistic people, being happy about the little things, talking about positive experiences and, above all, laughing a lot and using positive language.
There is no doubt that positive people get more out of life. But are they also healthier? It has long been scientifically disputed whether optimists or pessimists live longer.
The pessimists were given credit for being more concerned about their health. Among them we also find hypochondriacs more often.
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The question is also currently playing a current role because two years of pandemic and now the Ukraine war are affecting the state of mind of many people in Germany.
Those who think positively do their hearts good
There is now evidence that optimists have a better chance of aging than pessimists. The University of Pittsburgh found evidence of this as early as 2009.
A study of 97,253 women who had all taken a personality test showed that optimistic women were significantly less likely to develop coronary heart disease and, accordingly, had a lower mortality rate from this disease during the study period.
In a recent study, scientists at the Boston University School of Medicine asked themselves who is likely to live longer: pessimists, who are more concerned about their health, or optimists, who tend to assume that the symptoms they register are not that bad.
The researchers analyzed the health data of around 71,000 people. They used two databases that have stored medical histories of nurses and veterans for decades. Thus, the scientists received information about the health status and lifestyle of almost 70,000 nurses and 1429 veterans.
Questionnaires and tests were used to determine whether they were all optimistic or pessimistic. The researchers divided the women into four groups from very optimistic to very pessimistic. There were five groups among the veterans.
It was clearly shown that an optimistic lifestyle has a positive effect on life expectancy. In this study, optimists had a 50 to 70 percent greater chance of living to age 85 or older than pessimists.
The data also showed that particularly optimistic women lived on average 15 percent longer than the pessimistic women in the group studied.
For men, this figure was eleven percent. Interesting: Even with a similar lifestyle, optimists lived longer than pessimists. Only optimists get really old.
Optimists recover better from stress
The scientists also investigated whether the higher life expectancy could be due to the fact that optimists generally live healthier lives, for example see the doctor more regularly, smoke or drink less and do more sport. When the researchers factored in such differences in lifestyle, the result weakened, but the optimists still had a clear advantage.
In addition to the longer life expectancy, optimism also has other advantages, according to the study. Optimists recover better from difficulties and stressful situations. They are also better able to regulate emotions and their behavior.
In addition, optimists are socially better integrated. Good social contacts are an essential factor for a long life.
Can you learn optimism?
People are viewed as optimists, believing that good things will happen and that the future is worth pursuing. You feel like you have things under control.
Optimists set achievable goals that correspond to their own possibilities, take small steps and remain realistic. They accept things that they cannot change anyway.
And: optimists are grateful for the many beautiful little things in life. This is the way of optimistic people.
Nobody is born an optimist or a pessimist. Therapy and training methods, among other things, can change negative basic attitudes and perceptions if we find that they are preventing us from making the most of our lives. Or as the author Rolf Merkle puts it so beautifully: “Anyone can join the club of optimists. Membership is entirely voluntary.”
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Curt Diehm is medical director of the Max Grundig Clinic, which specializes in executives. The internist also teaches as an adjunct professor at the University of Heidelberg and is the author of over 200 original scientific publications and many non-fiction books.