Never a dancer, always an optimist

I think I must have been in the optimism gene line, not the dancing gene line when I was collecting my genes.   It has long been recognized that people with certain psychological traits such as optimism, self-esteem and mastery are able to handle challenging situations more easily than people who do not.  Mastery is the feeling that you are in control of what happens in your life and that you can achieve your goals.

Because these traits seem to run in families, researchers suspected that they were related to a genetic component.  Dr. Shelley E. Taylor and Shimone Saphire-Bernstein of UCLA researched this possible connection in a study funded by NIH.  Their findings in Proceedings of National Academy of Science in September 2011 reported that the possible genetic basis for these traits was in the oxytocin hormone.  This is referred to as the “cuddle hormone”, and is found in breastfeeding mothers and is released by both men and women during orgasm.

The oxytocin receptor gene may include a small amount of genetic material which relates to this group of personality traits.  How this gene affects the release of oxytocin is not fully understood.

Other scientists are not in complete agreement with Dr. Taylor’s findings.  Dr. Paul Zak of Claremont Graduate University in California was first skeptical of the findings but later found that they were pretty convincing.  He says genes are not our destinies. While it appears that some people may have a genetic predisposition towards happiness, the people who do not have the gene can engage in behaviors which increase their social connection with others which improves your life and outlook.

Dr. Phillip Harvey, PhD, of the University of Miami Medical School believes there are multiple gene interactions involved. While he agrees that genes can affect the way we process information and view the world, it does not mean we cannot change how we look at the world and our situation.

There are different theories on why some of us seem to be “naturally” optimistic and others need to work to develop a more positive outlook.   There are very few if any scientists who do not recognize the positive effects of a more optimistic view of life.

A report on the BBC website notes that optimistic women live longer, have lower blood pressure and a 9 percent lower chance of developing heart disease. Just a few other benefits from this study:  it gives you a reason for living even in difficult times,  it lowers stress, it promotes happiness, it increases productivity and perseverance, it increases gratitude, it increases patience and tolerance when dealing with others, it promotes a feeling of personal integrity and improved psychological and physical health.

I have several friends who swear they were born to be pessimists and will always be that way.  An article published in the American Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry disagrees with them.  It says that even in our current environment, we still have the choice to be more positive in our life.  The following behavioral suggestions may help:  make a decision to be more positive every single day, avoid people who suck out your positive energy, avoid too much news watching, recognize negative thoughts and do not let them dominate your thinking-just say STOP, be positive with others, practice gratitude by starting each day remembering all the good things and people in your life.

Dr Dilip Jeste, geriatric psychiatrist at UC San Diego, authored two major studies on successful aging.  Both studies concluded that perfect health is neither necessary nor sufficient to age successfully.  One study was conducted with seniors from 60-98 who had experienced heart disease, cancer and other serious illnesses and losses.  They self-reported their degree of successful aging as quite high.  Dr Jeste attributed this to their optimism and effective coping skills

I have always been interested in the effects of a positive outlook on our lives and did my final research paper on it in graduate school.  Recent studies echo my earlier findings that optimism and a positive outlook are closely related to improved mental and physical health, increased resilience when faced with illness and loss and a higher enjoyment of our lives at any age.

Looking at life from a positive viewpoint is easy for some of us and others need to really work at it.  Whichever the case, choosing optimism and avoiding negativism will open our lives to new opportunities and will allow us to make the most of our very special lives as we grow older.