Attitude Is Everything
My first nursing job was as a staff nurse in a coronary care unit. My coworkers and I noticed what appeared to be a correlation between our patients' attitudes and their survival rate. Those who were fearful, compliant and passive - the easiest to care for - were often the ones who had negative outcomes, while our more non-compliant, self-confident and self-determined folks often survived even under less than optimum circumstances. They 'dared' their disease to defeat them, and they often won! Years later, research confirmed what we nurses had observed: attitude really does make a difference when it comes to health and healing.
To begin with, happy people live longer, in general, due to a symbiotic relationship between your emotions and your immune system. Even just pretending to be happy seems to have a positive influence on how well you are able to fight off infections. Expectation, too, is key. Those who expect to be well usually are. Our CCU patients who were not about to cave in to their heart conditions expected to get well and go home, and they did. Those obedient souls who followed our every request did so out of fear, and that fear sometimes became a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Another study suggests that a good attitude makes for healthful aging. As I look back on my career, which included many years doing home health care and home hospice, I can attest to the fact that my sour, dour charges aged less gracefully and looked years older than their actual age. Those who found a reason to smile, even when faced with tough circumstances, looked brighter, moved about more easily and appeared younger than their years, as a rule. Of course, genetics plays a big part here, but even adjusting for that, the study found that a joyful countenance was often associated with a younger, less wrinkled and more sprightly demeanor.
About a year ago, a questionnaire given to college students showed that parental attitudes - especially with regard to women - had a significant effect. Those young women who had unhealthy lifestyles often had domineering, fearful parents. For boys, maternal over-protectiveness led more often to depression. To be sure, parental behavior - excessive alcohol intake, smoking cigarettes, etc. also strongly impacted their children's health. But regardless of the other mitigating factors, attitude played a significant role in their mental and physical health.
So how do you give yourself an 'attitudinal tune-up'? First, make a list of all the things for which you are grateful. You may be surprised, once you get started, at how much good there is in your life, even under trying circumstances. Next, make a list of the things you fear, or worry about. For those things over which you have no control, the best thing you can do is let go of the worry. If you can't fix it, or have no control over it, let it be. Easy to say, harder to do, but you'll be amazed at how much of a burden is removed once you turn these problems over to a higher power, or to fate, depending on your beliefs. Third, every time you catch yourself thinking a negative thought about someone or something, try writing down a few good things about that person, even if you have to start with something extremely minor or mundane. Finally, studies have shown that those who have some form of spiritual life are generally happier and healthier than those who do not. It doesn't seem to matter what form of spiritual belief you choose; the fact that you are aware of something greater and grander than yourself is the key.
Next time you're feeling down, try these little tricks and see if you aren't soon feeling lighter, and looking more youthful. To quote a saying from Proverbs, "A joyful heart maketh a cheerful countenance, but with sadness the heart is broken." Written in the Iron Age (approximately), this bit of wisdom is as valuable now as it was thousands of years ago. So, SMILE!
Nancy Miller, RN, BA Psych, CHyT
Nancy Miller got her RN degree in 1975 and went on to earn a BA in Humanistic Psychology from Goucher College in 2002. She's also a certified hypnotherapist and an ordained minister. Nancy is the mother of one child, her 24 year old son Eric, of whom she is extremely proud.
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