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We have reported frequently on the importance of focusing on mental health and not just physical health (for example here, here, and here).

With the holidays here and the New Year around the corner, this is certainly a time for optimism — which is not just good for holiday cheer, but also, according to a new study, apparently good for your health.

The study in the American Journal of Epidemiology, titled “Optimism and Cause-Specific Mortality: A Prospective Cohort Study,” begins: “Growing evidence has linked positive psychological attributes like optimism to a lower risk of poor health outcomes, especially cardiovascular disease.”

Indeed, according to the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health: “The study found that women who were optimistic had a significantly reduced risk of dying from several major causes of death—including cancer, heart disease, stroke, respiratory disease, and infection—over an eight-year period, compared with women who were less optimistic.”

The post continues: “The study analyzed data from 2004–2012 from 70,000 women enrolled in the Nurses’ Health Study, a long-running study tracking women’s health via surveys every two years. They looked at participants’ levels of optimism and other factors that might play a role in how optimism may affect mortality risk, such as race, high blood pressure, diet, and physical activity.”

“The most optimistic women (the top quartile) had a nearly 30% lower risk of dying from any of the diseases analyzed in the study compared with the least optimistic women (the bottom quartile), the study found. The most optimistic women had a 16% lower risk of dying from cancer; 38% lower risk of dying from heart disease; 39% lower risk of dying from stroke; 38% lower risk of dying from respiratory disease; and 52% lower risk of dying from infection.”

Said  Eric Kim, research fellow in the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences and co-lead author of the study: “While most medical and public health efforts today focus on reducing risk factors for diseases, evidence has been mounting that enhancing psychological resilience may also make a difference. Our new findings suggest that we should make efforts to boost optimism, which has been shown to be associated with healthier behaviors and healthier ways of coping with life challenges.”

And for those who feel they may not be the optimistic type, there's additional good news. According to the study: “It has been demonstrated in randomized trials that optimism can be learned. If associations between optimism and broader health outcomes are established, it may lead to novel interventions that improve public health and longevity.”

To this point, postdoctoral research fellow Kaitlin Hagan, co-lead author of the study, added: “Previous studies have shown that optimism can be altered with relatively uncomplicated and low-cost interventions—even something as simple as having people write down and think about the best possible outcomes for various areas of their lives, such as careers or friendships. Encouraging use of these interventions could be an innovative way to enhance health in the future.”