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Tips: Emotional Health and Physical Health
The health risks of poor emotional health are quite clear for conditions such as heart disease:
• The risk for a heart attack is increased by 2.5 times in people with clinical depression.1
• If you have a heart attack, depression is associated with a lower chance of 5-year survival.2
• People with high emotional vitality have significantly less risk for heart disease.4
• Health benefits of emotional vitality are only partly related to healthier lifestyles. There is emerging evidence that emotional vitality helps your body’s immune system work better.5
• This includes being better able to fight off infections such at colds and the flu.6
Also, good regulation of emotions is associated with better outcomes for people with chronic illnesses such as chronic pain, rheumatoid arthritis and certain cancers.7
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1. Rugulies R. Depression as a predictor for coronary heart disease. a review and meta-analysis. Am J Prev Med. 2002 Jul;23(1):51-61.
2. Lespérance F, et al. Five-year risk of cardiac mortality in relation to initial severity and one-year changes in depression symptoms after myocardial infarction. Circulation. 2002 Mar 5;105(9):1049-53
3. Danner DD, et at. Positive emotions in early life and longevity: findings from the nun study. J Pers Soc Psychol. 2001 May;80(5):804-13.
4. Kubzansky LD, et al. Emotional Vitality and Incident Coronary Heart Disease, Benefits of Healthy Psychological Functioning Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2007;64(12):1393-1401.
5. Steptoe A, et al. Neuroendocrine and inflammatory factors associated with positive affect in healthy men and women: the Whitehall II study. Am J Epidemiol. 2008 Jan 1;167(1):96-102.
6. Cohen S, et al. Positive emotional style predicts resistance to illness after experimental exposure to rhinovirus or influenza a virus. Psychosom Med. 2006 Nov-Dec;68(6):809-15.
7. Smyth JM, et al. Recent evidence supports emotion-regulation interventions for improving health in at-risk and clinical populations. Curr Opin Psychiatry. 2009 Mar;22(2):205-10.
• The risk for a heart attack is increased by 2.5 times in people with clinical depression.1
• If you have a heart attack, depression is associated with a lower chance of 5-year survival.2
In a study of nuns, researchers looked at essays written 60 years ago and found that nuns who reported more positive emotions had 2.5 times lower mortality and lived on average 7 years longer than those with more negative emotions. Also, the more positive group had lower risk for Alzheimer’s.3
Researchers now speak of “emotional vitality,” which is described as positive energy and well-being plus the ability to deal well emotionally with a range of situations.
• People with high emotional vitality have significantly less risk for heart disease.4
• Health benefits of emotional vitality are only partly related to healthier lifestyles. There is emerging evidence that emotional vitality helps your body’s immune system work better.5
• This includes being better able to fight off infections such at colds and the flu.6
Also, good regulation of emotions is associated with better outcomes for people with chronic illnesses such as chronic pain, rheumatoid arthritis and certain cancers.7
---------------------------------
1. Rugulies R. Depression as a predictor for coronary heart disease. a review and meta-analysis. Am J Prev Med. 2002 Jul;23(1):51-61.
2. Lespérance F, et al. Five-year risk of cardiac mortality in relation to initial severity and one-year changes in depression symptoms after myocardial infarction. Circulation. 2002 Mar 5;105(9):1049-53
3. Danner DD, et at. Positive emotions in early life and longevity: findings from the nun study. J Pers Soc Psychol. 2001 May;80(5):804-13.
4. Kubzansky LD, et al. Emotional Vitality and Incident Coronary Heart Disease, Benefits of Healthy Psychological Functioning Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2007;64(12):1393-1401.
5. Steptoe A, et al. Neuroendocrine and inflammatory factors associated with positive affect in healthy men and women: the Whitehall II study. Am J Epidemiol. 2008 Jan 1;167(1):96-102.
6. Cohen S, et al. Positive emotional style predicts resistance to illness after experimental exposure to rhinovirus or influenza a virus. Psychosom Med. 2006 Nov-Dec;68(6):809-15.
7. Smyth JM, et al. Recent evidence supports emotion-regulation interventions for improving health in at-risk and clinical populations. Curr Opin Psychiatry. 2009 Mar;22(2):205-10.
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