Positive thinking really can make you healthy, it seems.
An optimistic attitude can do wonders for patients' recovery, according to
researchers who reviewed 16 studies that looked at patients' attitudes
toward health. The studies spanned 30 years and looked at patients'
attitudes after surgery. The review appears in the August issue of
Canadian Medical Association Journal.
"In each case the better a patient's expectations about how they would do
after surgery or some health procedure, the better they did," said
author Donald Cole, of the Institute for Work and Health in Toronto.
The review says that the power of positive thinking is real, said ABCNEWS'
Medical Correspondent Dr. Nancy Snyderman on Good Morning America today.
"This mind-body connection that we have been toying with for the past couple
of decades really does have hard science behind it," Snyderman said.
Back Pain, Heart Surgery, …
Across a wide range of clinical conditions, from lower back pain to heart
surgery, patients who felt they would do well in recovery did, according
to Cole. Patients who were scared or pessimistic about their recovery
did not recover as quickly as the optimists or as well.
"Less pain [after surgery] was directly associated with better expectations, positive expectations," Cole said.
Cole says the findings suggest several things that employers as well as
physicians and family members can do to help a person's recovery.
"If an employee is going off for surgery it could be helpful to ask that
employee, 'What do you think is going to happen to you?'" said Cole. "If
a person has fears or is feeling pessimistic then it is time to think,
'We better deal with those fears.'"
Dealing with those fears not only helps a person recover but also means a
healthier work environment and the ability of that person who is going
to surgery to come back to work quicker, said Cole.
Hopes and Fears
"Clinicians should talk to their patients and find out what their hopes and fears
are before a procedure," Cole said. "If this were part of the process,
recovery expectations could be talked about and then, according to the
results of this study, at least, recovery could be better."