Positive Versus Negative
Optimism is an inclination to put the most favorable construction upon actions or events to anticipate the best possible outcome. Pessimism is an inclination to emphasize adverse aspects, conditions, and possibilities or to expect the worse possible outcome. The mental attitude of a person has an effect on their overall well-being, whether it is positive or negative.
Results of psychological tests showed that people who were “in the upper reaches of happiness” developed about 50% more antibodies than normal responding to flu vaccines. Other major researchers determined that mental states associated with happiness such as hopefulness, optimism, and contentment seem to lessen the risk or mitigate the seriousness of cardiovascular disease, pulmonary disease, hypertension, colds, and upper respiratory infections.
Where research has shown that positive mental states were proven to lessen the seriousness of many health issues, negative mental states were proven to worsen them. As if that weren't bad enough, depression can also increase the risk of dying from cancer.
Scientific evidence proves that, on a general level, optimists are healthier than pessimists; consequently, it would almost be safe to say that optimists are happier than pessimists. Just as having a positive mental outlook is generally healthier than having a negative mental outlook, so is having a positive self-image versus having a negative self-image.
With all the media has projected on our society of an unreachable idea of beauty, young girls are pressured to look or act a certain way, which more often than not isn’t who they really are. Therefore, it is important that they are taught how to maintain a positive self-image in order to be successful and more importantly, healthy.
