The Longevity Project Reflections

Chapter 4 explores how cheerfulness and optimism relate to longevity. Surprisingly, being cheerful is not corellated with living longer and the more sober Terman participants tended to outlive their optimistic counterparts. There are various explanations for this; humor can be used to cover a traumatic past, cheerful children tend to drink and smoke more later in life, and cheerful individuals are more likely to have risky hobbies. As well, illusory optismism occurs when an individual overlooks and ignores real threats, creating problems in the long run. An interesting finding in this chapter was gender differences in worrying and longevity; women that were worriers in young adulthood tended to die earlier, particularly if they were not conscientious, while worried young men died later, especially if they were neurotic. Overall, the takeaway from the chapter was that happiness does not cause good health, but the two are associated, as lifestyles and behaviors that make individuals happy also benefit physical health. This chapter relates to my experiences because I am optimistic and scored low on the neuroticism scale, but still think of myself as conscientious; I believe in my self-efficacy and enjoy life but also worry about real threats and take precautions. As well, my cheerfulness does not lead to risky behaviors and does not stem from a traumatic past. In this way, I am hopeful that I will reap the longevity benefits from being a balance of optimistic and conscientious.

Chapter 5 centers on the relationship between catastrophic thinking and longevity. As seen in the Terman project, individuals with a catastrophic explanatory style die earlier than their counterparts. This is partly due to suicidal tendencies of catastrophizers, as seen with Douglas Kelly who likely took his own life after catastrophic internalization of his work with Nazi leaders. Chapter 5 also explores variables associated with suicide such physical health, stress, and mental health, with combinations of the three particularly important in predicting suicide. Another interesting finding described in the chapter is the work of Dr. Schneidman, a suicidologist able to rank the suicide risk of Terman men based on levels of perturbation (agitation and lack of composure) and lethality (features of life that reflect intentions about death). The chapter also explores longevity and regrets; Terman participants that lived to old age regretted actions they did not take but vocalized positive thoughts and were content with their lives. Finally, the authors explain the negative relationship between conscientiousness and catastrophizing and affirm the feasibility of changing catastrophic and negative thoughts. This chapter relates to me as my sister catastrophizes and sees hardships as calamities, a problematic worldview that makes it challenging for her to recover from setbacks. However, as described in the chapter, through cognitive therapy and an increase in rational thinking, it would be possible for her to change her thinking and behavior. This chapter also makes me hopeful about my future because I am not catastrophic and am conscientious, both of which support longevity.

One of the biggest takeaways from chapter 4 is the idea that the participants who lived a long satisfying life did not pursue happiness, rather their happiness was a by-product of their pathways to long life. Their social relationships, careers, hobbies, and habits lead the participants to a healthy lifestyle and therefore lead to happiness. I think it is interesting that happy people are not necessarily healthy because they may only be engaging in short term happiness, which consequently will not lead to living a healthy life. It is also important to remember that happiness is not a direct cause of good health. For anyone trying to become happier and more satisfied with their life, it is important to engage in healthy relationships and activities, and as a result happiness will often times follow.

Reading about the Tinker Bell Principle in chapter 4 was interesting because I had never heard about this idea prior to this reading. I found the concept of having high levels of optimism not being necessarily beneficial interesting. I always believed that having a positive mindset, emotions, and outlook on life would lead an individual to be healthier and happier, which is the study of positive psychology. After further reading I do understand how being too optimistic could lead an individual to become disappointed or frustrated with an unexpected outcome, and therefore experience additional stress.

In chapter 4 I also found the term “illusory optimism” to be an interesting concept. Meaning that optimistic people can sometimes overlook or ignore threats. These individuals may underestimate risks to their health and therefore will not take the necessary precautions. Overall, it seems that it is important for people to be optimistic at the right times and to the correct degree in order to remain healthier and live longer.

From chapter 5, it makes sense to me that individuals who catastrophize events die sooner. If you are constantly fearing the worse and stressing about seemingly rare events, then it makes sense that you would not live as long a life due to being constantly stressed and anxious. I also thought it was interesting how catastrophizes were more likely to die from accidents and violence than noncatastrophizers. These individuals who catastrophize events put themselves onto risky pathways that are more likely to lead to a violent death, such as suicide.

It is helpful to know that we do have the power to stop our negative thoughts, through cognitive therapy strategies such as thought replacement. When an individual stops thinking about a harmful thought they then replace that negative thought with a positive or realistic idea.

In Chapter 4, Friedman & Martin discuss how happiness affects or may be affected by health. Their findings again disagreed with many of the common adages about how to live a long, healthy life. They found that those with the most cheerful and optimistic personalities actually lived shorter lives than those who were more serious, or those who worried a moderate amount. As usual, though, they presented a series of caveats to this finding. First: optimism actually does predict better health outcomes during health emergencies, as it facilitates better treatment adherence and thus encourages health-promoting behaviors. This was immediately contradicted by their claim that high levels of optimism can be detrimental long term, though. It can lead to underestimating health risks, overestimating outcomes, and being unnecessarily surprised and disheartened when things go awry. In general, I agreed with the points they made about happiness being an outcome of health, rather than a determinant of health. It’s often easy to infer causation, and I think they do a good job of point out that healthy behaviors lead to happiness–not the other way around.

Another interesting finding they presented was that neuroticism, while largely detrimental at high levels, was actually helpful when it was paired with conscientiousness. This is reassuring for me, because I am a conscientious individual, but I can definitely be neurotic at times. Unfortunately, they reported that neurotic women had far worse health effects than neurotic men, so that’s not ideal for me. However, at least the health effects weren’t as significant as those experienced by catastrophizers. In chapter 5, they reported unambiguously that catastrophic thinking decreased longevity. Interpreting misfortunes as permeating, long-lasting disasters seemed to facilitate taking riskier life paths, according to the authors. Catastrophizers were also more likely to commit suicide, which illuminates how much your world view and perception of events can affect your decisions–and your life. Overall, I thought these two chapters were pretty enlightening about what characteristics ends up having a significant influence on a person’s trajectory.

Chapter 4 brought up an interesting point that although optimism can be a good thing, too much of it is not beneficial. I completely agree with this statement because I believe that sometimes too much optimism can leave you disappointed if things do not go your way. I have witnessed this situation several times. Something that I found surprising was that cheerful and optimistic children were less likely to live to an old age than their more staid and sober counterparts. I find this statement interesting because to me it seems like optimistic people would live longer than pessimistic people. I also thought that optimistic people would be more likely to seek out the best treatment plans and follow their doctor’s orders in hopes that they will get better. The book answered this question when it made the point that happiness is a by product of a pathway to long life.

Chapter 5 was interesting in the sense that one reason conscientious people live longer is because they cooperate with their medical treatments. Although, this statement may be true I believe that there is an exception. I think that anyone who is motivated to get better will cooperate with their medical treatments. I do not think that cooperation is subject to one personality. Conscientious people may find it easier to cooperate, but I think that cooperation is mainly based on internal drive rather than personality.

These two chapters were especially interesting to me because I used to be someone who was very pessimistic and would look at the bad in life, but I’ve grown to be a cautiously optimistic person. Chapter 4, in its discussion about optimism, stated that a certain amount of optimism is a good thing–just don’t let it get out of control to a point of carelessness. It also commented on how many people believe that with happiness comes mental health, disproving this idea. Health and happiness are both outcomes of a lifestyle or childhood that then promote a good/better lifestyle. I really liked Friedman and Martin’s example of Emma; how she wasn’t especially cheerful, but she enjoyed life. Once again, it highlights just how individualistic health is.

I felt Chapter 5 was straight-forward for the most part. If one has catastrophic thoughts, they’re more likely to commit suicide or not take medicines because they believe their life is already on a set path that won’t get better with time or they are extremely at fault. I’ve definitely heard that, on average, men prefer to use guns for suicide and women like to use drugs, but I wish the authors went into more detail on why there is that difference.

What I found most interesting from both of these chapters was the discussion about most effective methods of treatment. In both cases, seeking out professional help was highly recommended, but also keeping a journal and logging good things that happen during the day or something that will keep us feeling more optimistic than pessimistic.

I find chapter 2 similar to chapter 4 where the “conscientious and prudent” of the former are similar to the “serious” participants of the latter. Not surprising of this book/study, researchers found that the positive characteristics, in this case those with a more cheerful and optimistic personality/outlook, were actually correlated with lesser longevity compared to those with the (subjectively) “less” desirable outlook (e.g. seriousness). Perhaps my favorite quote from chapter 4 comes early on, on page 34, “Healthy people are happy but happy people are not necessarily healthy.” The reality is that often times the cause of happiness and healthiness are due to other factors, rather than the two being completely contingent on one another. This is why we see millions in the US alone who are obese but who is to say they are not happy—because many of them are. Ironically for many, the comfort and contentment some have with their bodies and eating what they please and maintaining that unhealthy lifestyle is what keeps many happy. This illusory optimism, this “This is what makes me happy and I’ve made it thus far while doing it, I think I’ll be fine…” is what results in shorter lifespans because the unhealthy lifestyle is normalized in their mind.

This topic hits home for me because both of my parents are overweight. My brother and I are both division one athletes and have been health conscious, superiorly active individuals since middle school. Our father, who at one point was a body builder and leaner and stronger than my brother or I have ever been in our lives, is the one who taught us much of what we know in regards to eating healthy—yet he continues to eat poorly now. Our mother knows she should workout more but she figures she’ll be fine because she doesn’t eat “that much” anymore, but she still eats desserts almost everyday… I’ll stop before I go further, I love my parents but I can’t help but worry. My brother and I try to help, but just haven’t yet broken through to them holistically unfortunately.

This worry I mentioned brings me to catastrophizing (as mentioned in chapter 5), which I personally do have a tendency to do occasionally, but at the same time, I am still a rather cheerful, optimistic guy… Which before reading this book, I would have thought is a good thing because the two offset, right? But apparently I’m crippling my longevity by the second, so after some introspection and perhaps some meditation I’ll see what I can change so I can stay alive longer. That said, if you’re reading this, please do not fear that I would ever consider the great extremes that some of the Terman participants apparently chose. I’m not even going to name the action because I can’t fathom such an ending for my life. When I say I “catastrophize” sometimes, I mean like I might shed a gangster tear or two when I do poorly on an exam or assignment of some sort; I’ll feel pretty low and perhaps be much less talkative for the rest of the day at the longest, but then I go to sleep and wake up happy and ready to face the world again for a new day. At that point, it is in the past and it is important to use failures as learning points. If sleep stops working as an antidote then I might have a problem but until then, we’re good.

Relatively similar to last week’s readings, the findings in Chapter 4 came as a surprise to me. It was shocking and quite disappointing to read that a cheerful and optimistic person is less likely to live longer than a mature and serious person. I do wish the book included figures from their research though, because I think it would be interesting to have an idea of exactly how many of the “happy” children did not outlive their counterparts. I scored a 20 on the neuroticism self-assessment and I realize that I worry a lot about certain things, but it was comforting to read that at times, worrying is not the worst that can happen to us — and it can even be healthy. I am also interested to read more about why there are such dramatic differences between men and women, when it comes to worrying.

As for Chapter 5, catastrophizers dying at a younger age was not all that surprising to read. Learning about their unique causes of death was interesting, yet pretty sad in certain cases. Dr. Shneidman’s work was remarkable and I find it hard to believe how deeply the Terman men cared about their professional careers. I am sure these statistics apply to men today as well, which brings me to the conclusion that as important as succeeding professionally may be, health comes before anything else and although it seems like common sense, people need to be reminded of this.

Chapter 4 mainly discussed the relationship between happiness and longevity. Surprisingly, the authors found that individuals who were more optimistic tended to live shorter lives. However, children that grew up in a more serious manner lived longer healthier lives. I really found this shocking, as we are commonly told that the happiness is the key to a long life. Having fun and laughing often are thought to be some of the best remedies for any illness. The authors find that a little worrying is actually beneficial, while too much enthusiasm can be detrimental to ones health. The ones who lived longest tended to be happy, but the happiest did not live the longest. Chapter 5 discusses individuals that catastrophic and how it negatively effects these individuals. These people are over worriers, which leads to a shorter life but for reasons unrelated to health. Catastrophic thinkers encounter more accidents and are more likely to die from these accidents, than more calm individuals. Their over worrying, also led to more intentional deaths. These chapters stress the importance of moderation and not be too nervous but also not blindly happy.

I again appreciated the tests provided in both these chapters. It was interesting to see that over happiness can actually have negative effects. In the past, I would consider myself a pretty happy, but not overly happy and a calm person, which both positively influence longevity. However, I was confused with them mentioning that older people tend to be happier. I would not necessarily say older individuals are happier, because they are healthy. There are many older individuals I have encountered that were grumpy and did not live the healthiest lifestyles when they were younger. I believe there are more factors to longevity of life than simply being more serious or overly happy. Not every overly happy person is blindly happy, while not every older person is healthy and happy.

These chapters lead me to believe that I am on a healthy path which I find exciting. It was interesting that the older Termites interviewed didn’t mention their own death, but rather their life and what they are happy for. While this alone does not promise longevity, I hope that I live a life without regrets of what I had done or things I wish I had pursued. The chapters, also acted as a reminder to not over worry or become blindly happy, but to worry when necessary.

Chapter 4 regarded how optimism correlates to longevity and the results really surprised me.  While chapter 5 told us that catastrophizing and too much worrying was strongly correlated to a shorter lifespan, optimism wasn’t shown to lead to a longer, healthier, life.  Instead it was found that those who lived long, fulfilling lives grew happier as they got older, even if they weren’t exactly bubbly growing up.  This is reassuring to me as I was never a particularly optimistic child and instead looked at things as realistically and logically as possible, which the chapter seemed to connect to favorable outcomes.  I agree with chapter 5’s conclusions that people are capable of teaching themselves not to catastrophize as I did that a few years ago by asking myself questions like, “How much control do I actually have over this situation?” and consciously changing my trains of thoughts in a similar manner to what the book described.

The main points of chapters 4 and 5 were quite contrasting. One of the most shocking findings in Chapter 4 was that those who were more staid and calm lived longer than people who are cheerful and optimistic. Part of this is due to that those who are cheerful or optimistic often overlook the seriousness of a situation or health scare. They believe that their body can naturally fight whatever it is they are dealing with vs. those who are staider and realize that medications or other steps may need to be taken to cure an illness. People need to realize that there is little evidence that shows the immune system will gear up just because of optimism. The main impact of optimism however is that it does encourage health-promoting behaviors like sticking with exercise and eating goals, sleeping better, and lowering stress levels.

This chapter relates to my current experiences and potentially my future ones. Myself along with the people I’m surrounded by would say that I’m a very optimistic and enthusiastic person. I’m a leader in multiple groups and always try to find the good and silver lining in every situation.  However, I do categorize with those who believe that taking pills is no good and that the body should fight off whatever it is dealing with naturally. All of this being said, I do take measures to ensure that body and immune system is working optimally by drinking as much water as I can, eating well, along with exercising. Yet, when was diagnosed with the flu my freshman year of college, I was quite surprised, disappointed, and frustrated as the book mentions might happen to those with too much optimism. I remember coming back to my dorm room in tears because I was so mad that I was sick, couldn’t function at my best capacity, and that I didn’t want my friends to become ill because I had the flu.

Moving on, chapter 5 was more abrupt and disheartening with the findings from the project with results stating that catastrophizes died sooner. According to this study, catastrophizers overgeneralize their problems and believe it is going to undermine everything they do. In the end, they are clearly more likely to die from violent activity or accidents.

A measure used that I found interesting was the fact that the book related cheating the IRS and cheating life. The IRS uses a discriminant function analysis to predict whether a person may be a tax cheater. Meanwhile the Terman studies used a discriminant function to see if people were willing to cheat life. It is an interesting analogy. At first, I wouldn’t consider putting those cheating their taxes in the same bucket as those willing to take their life away. Taking a step back and thinking about it a bit more, those who are willing to cheat on their taxes might live a stressful and demanding lifestyle, needing to save or get money by any means. Moreover, facing this stress may be the same stress or sadness to those committing suicide.

Lastly, I’ve encountered many individuals who have been depressed and considered self-harm at one point in their life.  My hope for them is that they realize there are ways out of negative thinking and are willing to take on different guideposts to health and long life.