{"id":5938,"date":"2018-04-09T09:27:13","date_gmt":"2018-04-09T13:27:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.willclower.com\/blog\/?p=5938"},"modified":"2019-06-04T14:35:03","modified_gmt":"2019-06-04T18:35:03","slug":"stress-and-creating-your-own-reality","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?p=5938","title":{"rendered":"Stress, And Creating Your Own Reality"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img data-opt-id=530204950  fetchpriority=\"high\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-7425\" src=\"https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:300\/h:200\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.willclower.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/iStock-868630926-300x200.jpg?resize=300%2C200&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:300\/h:4000\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/iStock-868630926.jpg 300w, https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:768\/h:4000\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/iStock-868630926.jpg 768w, https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:1024\/h:4000\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/iStock-868630926.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:1732\/h:1154\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/iStock-868630926.jpg 1732w, https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:1470\/h:4000\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/iStock-868630926.jpg 1470w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>Bobby McFerrin\u2019s popular song\u00a0informs us that, <em>when you worry your face will frown, and that will bring everybody down so don\u2019t worry, be happy<\/em>. This may sound like some kind of Norman Vincent Peale power of positive thinking pap,\u00a0but it turns out that\u00a0your\u00a0subjective\u00a0feelings\u00a0impact\u00a0your\u00a0objective measures of health.\u00a0<span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134233117&quot;:true,&quot;134233118&quot;:true,&quot;201341983&quot;:2,&quot;335559740&quot;:225}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Researchers have measures of optimism and pessimism for many kinds of personalities. They can then correlate these measures with health outcomes to see whether there is any connection at all.\u00a0<span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134233117&quot;:true,&quot;134233118&quot;:true,&quot;201341983&quot;:2,&quot;335559740&quot;:225}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>What they find is that \u2013 and I don\u2019t mean to bum you out \u2013 but the list of health issues caused by pessimism is just depressing. Across\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/19711142\">83 different studies<\/a>, \u201cmortality, survival, cardiovascular outcomes, \u2026 immune function, cancer outcomes, outcomes related to pregnancy \u2026 pain\u201d were all significantly affected by whether you thought your glass was half full or half empty.\u00a0On the other hand, in heart patients\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/19892995\">lower scores on\u00a0pessimism\u00a0happen in people with lower risks for\u00a0stroke<\/a>.\u00a0<span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134233117&quot;:true,&quot;134233118&quot;:true,&quot;201341983&quot;:2,&quot;335559740&quot;:225}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>This may be because, even if you are free of heart disease,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/21949417\">levels of inflammation and vascular dysfunction<\/a>\u00a0are lower when optimism scores are higher. And in this long term, this may be why\u00a0positive outlook on life is also linked to longevity.<span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134233117&quot;:true,&quot;134233118&quot;:true,&quot;201341983&quot;:2,&quot;335559740&quot;:225}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Given all this, it\u2019s not off base to think about optimism as a medicine and pessimism as a toxin.\u00a0And the impact of this medicine is dose dependent \u2013 the more you have it, the greater the impact.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/11719629\">In this study of 1306 men<\/a>, the likelihood of suffering\u00a0any\u00a0cardiac event\u00a0varied in lockstep with measures of\u00a0optimism\/pessimism:\u00a0the greater the optimism score, the greater the protection; the greater the pessimism score, the greater the risk.\u00a0<span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134233117&quot;:true,&quot;134233118&quot;:true,&quot;201341983&quot;:2,&quot;335559740&quot;:225}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The bottom line is that, if you\u00a0can influence your own health. If\u00a0are\u00a0optimistic\u00a0about your\u00a0health, you\u2019re more likely to be right.\u00a0If you are pessimistic about your health, you\u2019re also more likely to be right. It\u2019s the equivalent of Henry Ford\u2019s comment that \u201cwhether you think you can, or think you can\u2019t, you\u2019re right.\u201d\u00a0<span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134233117&quot;:true,&quot;134233118&quot;:true,&quot;201341983&quot;:2,&quot;335559740&quot;:225}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Can you create your own reality and make yourself instantly healthy forever? Nope, but the good news is that these data show that you may just be able to move the needle\u00a0on your health\u00a0in a\u00a0positive\u00a0direction\u00a0by being positive about your health.\u00a0<span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134233117&quot;:true,&quot;134233118&quot;:true,&quot;201341983&quot;:2,&quot;335559740&quot;:225}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Bobby McFerrin\u2019s popular song\u00a0informs us that, when you worry your face will frown, and that will bring everybody down so don\u2019t worry, be happy. This may sound like some kind &hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":7425,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[494],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5938","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/iStock-868630926.jpg?fit=1732%2C1154&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7Qv5g-1xM","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5733,"url":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?p=5733","url_meta":{"origin":5938,"position":0},"title":"For Better Emotional Health w Chocolate Prevention, NOT Chocolate Treatment","author":"Will Clower","date":"February 15, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Chocolate can be linked to your emotions in a GOOD way, or in a BAD way. It's like the line from Glenda in the wizard of oz, \"Are you a good witch, or a bad witch?\" From chocolate's perspective, it is neither, as this food becomes healthy for you in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Articles&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?cat=494"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.willclower.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/chocolate-225x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":8023,"url":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?p=8023","url_meta":{"origin":5938,"position":1},"title":"Chocolate For Your Emotional Health","author":"Will Clower","date":"February 17, 2020","format":"image","excerpt":"If you\u2019ve ever wondered if\u00a0your love affair with chocolate is a one-sided relationship,\u00a0don\u2019t worry.\u00a0The latest\u00a0nutritional\u00a0research has some\u00a0very\u00a0good news. Because February is \"Heart Month\" as well as the month for Valentines Day, we will give you all the reasons why this delicious food is so good for you! Your Brain\u00a0On\u00a0Chocolate The\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Articles&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?cat=494"},"img":{"alt_text":"Mother and Daughter cooking with chocolate","src":"https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Mother-and-daughter-cooking-with-chocolate.jpg?fit=1200%2C801&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Mother-and-daughter-cooking-with-chocolate.jpg?fit=1200%2C801&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Mother-and-daughter-cooking-with-chocolate.jpg?fit=1200%2C801&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Mother-and-daughter-cooking-with-chocolate.jpg?fit=1200%2C801&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Mother-and-daughter-cooking-with-chocolate.jpg?fit=1200%2C801&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5326,"url":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?p=5326","url_meta":{"origin":5938,"position":2},"title":"Research On Health Impact of High Cocoa Chocolate","author":"Will Clower","date":"February 21, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Fifty-eight million pounds! That's how much chocolate is purchased during the week of Valentine's Day. We definitely have a love affair with this confection. The question is...does it love us back? Well, the latest nutritional research has some very good news: Yes, chocolate totally loves us back. Just bear in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Articles&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?cat=494"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":11540,"url":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?p=11540","url_meta":{"origin":5938,"position":3},"title":"Do you know your blood pressure?","author":"Alex Stiegel","date":"October 13, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"This blood pressure chart from the Mayo Clinic can help you figure out if your blood pressure is at a healthy level or if you'll need to take some steps to improve your numbers. A total blood pressure reading is determined by measuring the systolic and diastolic blood pressures. Systolic\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Articles&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?cat=494"},"img":{"alt_text":"Red Heart set beside a stethescope","src":"https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Heart-Set-Beside-Stethescopy.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Heart-Set-Beside-Stethescopy.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Heart-Set-Beside-Stethescopy.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Heart-Set-Beside-Stethescopy.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Heart-Set-Beside-Stethescopy.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7818,"url":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?p=7818","url_meta":{"origin":5938,"position":4},"title":"Biometric Numbers: When To Test?","author":"Will Clower","date":"September 30, 2019","format":"image","excerpt":"All this month we have emphasized the importance of knowing your numbers and developing an awareness for your own body's health parameters. But all biometric risk factors are not the same through your life, and you risk for getting certain chronic disease can grow or lessen as you age. For\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Articles&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?cat=494"},"img":{"alt_text":"Doctor drawing ecg heartbeat chart","src":"https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/iStock-628328284.jpg?fit=745%2C469&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/iStock-628328284.jpg?fit=745%2C469&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/iStock-628328284.jpg?fit=745%2C469&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/iStock-628328284.jpg?fit=745%2C469&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":11183,"url":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?p=11183","url_meta":{"origin":5938,"position":5},"title":"The 1 Thing As Powerful as Exercise for Improving Mental Health","author":"Will Clower","date":"March 28, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Great research science on the factors that can improve mental health and our measures of \"quality of life\". This one is on par with exercise.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Activity&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Activity","link":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?cat=528"},"img":{"alt_text":"Happy woman dancing in kitchen while cleaning","src":"https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Happy-Woman-Dancing-while-cleaning-kitchen-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C801&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Happy-Woman-Dancing-while-cleaning-kitchen-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C801&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Happy-Woman-Dancing-while-cleaning-kitchen-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C801&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Happy-Woman-Dancing-while-cleaning-kitchen-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C801&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Happy-Woman-Dancing-while-cleaning-kitchen-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C801&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5938","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5938"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5938\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7427,"href":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5938\/revisions\/7427"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7425"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5938"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5938"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5938"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}