Poor Thinking Habits and Our Health
Poor Thinking Habits and Our Health
Poor thinking habits often represent an underlying reason for many health issues. They affect badly our mental health, our immune system, and may contribute to psychosomatic disorders. Namely, experts believe that we may improve our health significantly by developing our thinking habits. But, what does that mean? And, how we can do this? Our thinking habits develop early in our lives. The majority of our beliefs was created in our past. We picked our clues from our parents, teachers, and the outer world when we were children. Interestingly, they believe that many of us still believe what they picked from childhood. In other words, we believe what a child once thought it was the truth. But, the world is changing rapidly. Technology speeds up our lifestyle, out thinking processes, and evolution. Lots of beliefs that was true long ago, might not be working now. For that reason, experts suggest reconsidering our thinking patterns and adopting a day-to-day practice to develop better-thinking habits. The best way to do that is to remain open in situations that provoke our emotional reactions. These situations are actually opportunities to learn and grow. According to them, we should do nothing. We need to stay open and aware what is going on in a present moment. If we overreact, it might be that we need to change our perception. A technique known as “helicopter view” might help. The technique allows us to look at the same situation from a distance, without paying attention to unimportant details. To learn more about how poor thinking habits affect our health, the article “Can Negative Thinking Make You Sick?” gives us the following explanation.
Poor Thinking Habits and Our Health
A 2014 study published in the journal Neurology linked high levels of cynicism later in life, i.e. a general distrust of people (and their motives), to a greater risk of dementia compared to those who were more trusting, even after accounting for other risk factors like age, sex, certain heart health markers, smoking status, and more.
This way of thinking may also hurt your heart. A 2009 study from the journal Circulation looked at data from nearly 100,000 women and found that the most cynical participants were more likely to have heart disease than the least cynical folks. The more pessimistic women also had a higher chance of dying over the study period, versus those who were more optimistic about humanity.
Another bad attitude that’s been linked to poor health outcomes: hostility. According to a 2014 study published in the journal Stroke, people who scored higher on measures of unfriendliness, as well as those with chronic stress and depressive symptoms, had a higher risk of stroke than the friendlier, kinder participants.
Finally, there’s depression, which is a serious diagnosis that can have repercussions far beyond feeling sad or losing your appetite. It’s been connected with an increased risk for type 2 diabetes, heart attack, and a greater chance of disability later in life.
Our thoughts and emotions have widespread effects on bodily processes like metabolism, hormone release, and immune function, Simon-Thomas says. One theory is that when you’re stressed or depressed, cortisol levels increase, making your immune system less able to control inflammation, which could lead to disease over time.
We can change poor thinking habits, but it is not an easy process. Many of us will encounter a lot of failures before we see results and develop better-coping strategies with ourselves, other people, and the world. However, it should not be discouraged. Every little step we make will change our lives for the better. And poor thinking habits are something we can learn to change and outgrow.
