This little article caught my eye this morning. I realized after reading it that I am rarely sick.
I wonder if I can attribute it to this?
PITTSBURGH, Nov. 9 (UPI) — Happiness and other positive emotions may play an even more important role in health than previously thought, found a U.S. study.
Sheldon Cohen, psychology professor at Carnegie Mellon University, found the people who report positive emotions are less likely to catch colds and also less likely to report symptoms when they do get sick.
This held true regardless of their levels of optimism, extraversion, purpose and self-esteem, and of their age, race, gender, education, body mass or prestudy immunity to the virus.
“We need to take more seriously the possibility that positive emotional style is a major player in disease risk,” said Cohen.
The researchers interviewed volunteers over several weeks to assess their moods and emotional styles, and then infected them with either a rhinovirus or an influenza virus. The volunteers were quarantined and examined to see if they came down with a cold and those with positive emotions were less likely to get sick.
