Do you think that a positive and optimistic attitude can save you from death? Below I talk to you about studies that relate optimism to quality of life in cancer patients.
Lately there has been a lot of talk about optimism and positive attitude in general. For a few years there have been multiple self-help books that focus on maintaining a positive attitude to face life’s adversities. But, in the case of cancer, what happens? On the occasion of World Cancer Day, which is celebrated on February 4, I am going to talk to you about this topic.
Normally when the news is received there is a first moment of shock in which the person cannot think and is incredulous at what happened. Shortly after, the person begins to get used to the idea of the new reality. The most normal thing is that they appear fears, especially to death, to suffer and/or to have loved ones have a hard time in the process. Feelings of blame or for not having led a healthier life, having unhealthy habits or simply feeling guilty for causing pain to family and friends.
However, there are those who stay in that loop of fears and occupations and maintain a more pessimistic attitude towards reality, and on the other hand there are those who maintain hope and optimism to get out of it.
It is true that it is difficult to ensure or know for sure whether a positive attitude cures cancer, since there are multiple cases and each of them has its complexity and particularities. Therefore, generalizing or putting different people with different diagnoses, in different stages of the disease, into the same bag is a bit risky.
However, there are more and more scientific studies that focus on this point since it has been shown that the brain and the body are interrelated and that the power of the mind is a very important factor in overcoming different diseases. In psychology it has been more than studied that an optimistic attitude towards any psychological diagnosis helps and is an indicator of a good prognosis. So, Why would it be different with organic diseases if the body and brain are connected?
If we are positive, we pay more attention to doctors
It is known, and it has been scientifically studied, that those who have a positive attitude will fight harder than those who feel defeated before their time. Therefore, the optimist will pay more attention to medical advice and will confront more, while the pessimist will opt for a passive attitude that will lead to premature death. And you will say, that is not a merit of the attitude but of listening to the doctor and following his advice. And you are right, but lately studies are being done to determine that the survival rate does not only depend on the case that is made to the doctor.
A study has recently been carried out in hospital centers at the universities of McGill, Montreal, Canada and Clermont-Ferrand with the aim of investigating the role of Optimism as a predictor of survival of a year in a population of cancer patients, that is, to know whether the most pessimistic patients would be more likely to be alive a year after their diagnosis or not. A sample of 101 patients with head and neck cancer was selected, with an average age of 58.3 years, men, without other associated pathologies and with a late-stage diagnosis who received the usual treatment. Prior to this study, multiple scientific studies have been carried out in Holland considering this same hypothesis in patients with the same type of tumor and the results have shown that the most optimistic, most self-efficacious and most willing to fight have a higher rate of survival than the most pessimistic patients.
Specifically, in the study that I describe above, it was found that the more optimistic people, those who have more family and emotional support, more social relationships and more emotional stability They survived longer and with a better quality of life than the pessimists, those who were alone and those who were more unstable or resistant to accepting the disease.
Therefore, it can be deduced that positive attitude increases quality of life and lengthens life It has not yet been proven that a positive attitude cures cancer, but at least this way of functioning makes life better, with higher quality and for longer.
However, we must remember that attitude is not everything, it also greatly influences the stage in which the person is at the time of diagnosis, the type of tumor and various organic factors that can affect such as the previous illnesses of the patient.
Confusing realism with pessimism
Finally I would like to comment something. We are used to living in pessimism. Many people who come to therapy tell me that they prefer to be in a pessimistic position because that way they get used to the idea and the setback is not so big. When they ask me this clarification I tell them: what you get with that is be bad for longer If you were to make a graph, the time you are with the discomfort is longer (which is also hypothetical, it is not a certainty that the resolution will be negative) than when the resolution arrives. However, if your attitude is positive and then you are disappointed, the blow will be hard, but the time you spent until that resolution will have been more pleasant and psychologically better. In addition, it may be the case that the problem is resolved and therefore the resolution is positive. If the result is positive, you will have lived happily all that time, while if you have been pessimistic, that pessimism will have been of no use.
