How can optimism be negative

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Mayo Clin Proc. When we fail to do that, we were led to believe that we are the ones at fault for not trying hard enough to pull ourselves together and "think positively". Now we have an additional emotion to deal with, on top of what was troubling us in the first place: the guilt for being unable to convince ourselves to be optimistic about our situation! Instead of accepting our fears, worries, anger, etc. Read also : Freelancers: How to Deal with Insecurities. Such phenomenon has been well-pointed-out in the thought-provoking book, " Bright-Sided How Positive Thinking is Undermining America ", where author Barbara Ehrenreich related her experience with the unhealthy American culture of positive thinking, when she was diagnosed with breast cancer.

As the pervasive assumption amongst the breast cancer community is that positivity allows one to conquer the illness , patients were pressurised to feel optimistic about their cancer even to the extent of interpreting it as a gift despite actually feeling depressed and distressed over it.

For this reason, guilt sets in for those who were unable to stay hopeful, mainly because they saw themselves as liable for having negative thoughts which supposedly contributed to the illness. They even have to keep the negativity to themselves for fear of dragging down the mood of the other seemingly more positive patients. Please enable JavaScript in your browser to enjoy a better experience.

To answer that question, let us observe at the following pitfalls of positive thinking and of holding an overly-optimistic outlook on life: 1. Disregarding Negative Emotions Sadly, so much focus has been given to the power of positive thinking that we no longer appreciate the goodness of negative emotions. Read also : 8 Scientifically Proven Ways to Increase Your Happiness At any rate, forcing negative or any thoughts out of our head is not only an attempt in futility; it can even backfire on us.

Lying To Ourselves In the classic "white bear" experiment , participants were told to ring a bell whenever a white bear flashes in their mind. Encouraging Magical Thinking Over-optimism can cloud our minds and lead us to miscalculate risks and make unsound decisions. Do You Believe In Magic? Creating The Illusion Of Control A natural outcome of optimism bias is that we begin to think we have more control over the outcomes of events than there really is.

Read also : 7 Telltale Signs of Facebook Addiction 4. Fostering Complacency Is it possible for us to imagine the best possible outcome of an upcoming event, tricking our minds into believing that we have already attained it?

Read also : Freelancers: How to Deal with Insecurities Such phenomenon has been well-pointed-out in the thought-provoking book, " Bright-Sided How Positive Thinking is Undermining America ", where author Barbara Ehrenreich related her experience with the unhealthy American culture of positive thinking, when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. D, a Stanford professor specializing in mindfulness in the workplace. Many equate optimism with happiness. Being optimistic allows you to handle stressful situations better, which reduces the harmful health effects of stress on your body.

Science shows that those with an optimistic outlook have better cardiovascular health and a stronger immune system, earn a higher income and have more successful relationships. So what exactly is happening in the brain when we have a positive or negative response to a situation?

Research shows that positive moods are associated with more left-side activity, while negative emotions, like being angry or depressed, are associated with more right-side activity. Davidson , director of the Laboratory for Affective Neuroscience at the University of Wisconsin, who has conducted numerous studies on the link between activity in the frontal lobes and emotions.

He found that only 15 percent of people have no inclination one way or the other. Another one of his studies published in The Journal of Personality and Social Psychology confirmed that these brain pattern activities are strong predictors of how we will react to certain situations.

Volunteers with more left-side activity who watched amusing films had a far stronger pleasant response, while those with more right-side brain activity who watched distressing films had far stronger negative feelings.

Positive moods are associated with more left-brain activity, while negative emotions fire up the right side of the brain. The good news: By consciously altering your thought processes, you can literally re-wire your brain. Davidson conducted an experiment to see if it was possible to shift the activity of those who had a tendency towards right-brain activity. Mindfulness was taught to workers in high-stress jobs who, on average, tipped toward the right in the ratio for the emotional set point.

The findings were promising: After two months of training for three hours each week , their emotions ratio shifted to the left and they reported feeling less anxious, more energized and happier.

Yes, the workers proved that we are able to change how our brains respond to experiences. Is making the effort to train your brain to be more optimistic worth it?

Science says yes. Research shows that the sunny worldview has some very real benefits for your health and productivity. According to a study published in Clinical Psychology Review , optimism is closely linked to resilience.