14 DAY TRIAL // A recent study carried out by researchers at the Carnegie Mellon University found that people who are happy, cheerful, lively and exhibit positive feelings on a regular basis have fewer chances of catching a cold and, even when they get sick, they have milder symptoms of the disorder. Also, the findings of the research showed that optimist people are less likely to be under the weather independent of other factors such age, body-mass, gender, race, education etc.
The research has been published in the Psychosomatic Medicine Journal and pointed out that having a positive attitude towards life and society reduces chances of being infected with a cold virus and getting under the weather. On the other hand, findings of the same study pinpointed the fact that the 'reverse' is not true - exhibiting negative feelings such as pessimism, anxiety, depression etc. do not affect or increase one's chances of catching a cold.
The study was conducted on 193 subjects with ages ranging from 21 to 55 who have been investigated for several weeks in order to establish their general state of mind - optimist or pessimist, cheerful and lively or depressed and lacking self-confidence, etc. After every subject's general state of mind has been identified and noted down, all volunteers have been infected with a rhinovirus to cause common cold or with an influenza virus, to cause basic flu.
On the overall, individuals who exhibited positive feelings on a regular basis were found to have a healthy and strong immune system to fight the cold or flu virus. In contrast, individuals who exhibited negative feelings, being continually depressed, anxious and 'down' were not more affected by the virus than optimist, extrovert counterparts.
Previous studies have also shown that a state of wellbeing and exhibiting positive feelings as a characteristic of one's personality plays a key-role in the individual's health condition. Conclusions showed that people who are cheerful, happy and have no major problems to worry about have boosted levels of physical health than depressed, pessimistic counterparts. Leader of the study Sheldon Cohen, the Robert E. Doherty Professor of Psychology at Carnegie Mellon advised: "We need to take more seriously the possibility that positive emotional style is a major player in disease risk."