How staying happy can keep you healthy

To be happy is a beautiful thing. It gives us a feeling of confidence, an attitude that we can “take on the world,” and a positivity that has the potential to be contagious. A recent study found that people look for pleasure in three ways: by helping other people, engaging in activities that they are excellent at, and engaging in activities that are beneficial to themselves. In addition, those with the most positive outlook on life tend to be the happiest overall.And the study doesn’t end there: being happy with your career, the connections you have with those closest to you, and how you take care of yourself physically and emotionally are all directly linked to happiness. Most individuals define happiness as having a sense of purpose in addition to being healthy. Dr. Joan Neehall, a clinical psychologist with a forensic specialization, suggests that this optimistic outlook may have a range of beneficial consequences on a person’s health, both psychologically and physically, including the following:

Attracting positivity: A person’s health and happiness depend heavily on their ability to maintain a positive outlook and a high energy level.

Developing an individual’s capacity to solve problems: People with a positive mental attitude feel they “can” and desire to accomplish their goals.

Creating resources: People can learn more effectively as a result of the development of their physical, intellectual, and social resources, as it encourages them to interact with others who have a constructive mindset.

Protecting your health: Happiness lowers your risk of cardiovascular disease, lowers your blood pressure, enables better sleep, improves your diet, allows you to maintain average body weight through regular exercise, and reduces stress. In addition, happiness improves your diet, which improves your ability to sustain moderate body weight.

Being joyful helps keep your heart healthy

According to Dr. Joan Neehall, happiness significantly affects the heart’s health, suggesting that being happy might help one prevent significant sickness. According to the findings of research that the University College London conducted, happy people tended to have lower blood pressure and heart rates, both of which are indicators of good health. The participants were given a happiness rating scale and instructed to complete it thirty times in one day. They were again asked to achieve the same scale three years later.In the first portion of the study, the researchers discovered that the individuals whose self-assessment stated they were happy tended to have a lower heart rate, by around six beats per minute on average. During the three-year follow-up, the people who reported the highest happiness levels also had significantly lower blood pressure. Dr. JoanNeehall further suggests that being happy may protect you against major health problems and lower the severity of minor ailments such as the common cold and the flu.It

Moreover, having a more optimistic outlook may strengthen your physical immune system  which can assist your body in fighting off infections and reducing the adverse effects that they have on you.All of this indicates that your degree of happiness may contribute to and affect your overall health. Keeping this in mind, it may be worthwhile to consider the things you do daily to not only burn calories but also bring a smile to your face.