Health & Happiness - What’s The Link?

The connection between health and happiness is explored in this contributed post.

They say that laughter is the best medicine, so it’s easy to see why so many people wonder whether there is a link between our health and our happiness. Research has shown that, believe it or not, health and happiness are linked, and that how happy you are can impact how healthy you are, and vice versa.

There is currently a lot of ongoing research into the factors that contribute to how healthy and happy we are. What studies have shown so far is that being a positive and happy person can give our health a boost, improving the quality of our lives.

It’s also been proven that positive experiences and emotions make it easier for us to get rid of negative feelings, boosting our happiness, which in turn helps to improve our health and wellbeing, particularly our mental health. Psychologists have suggested that people with a happy mindset have a buffer against certain psychological health problems, such as addiction and depression.

So, it’s clear that there is a link between health and happiness, but the question is, how does it work and what does it offer us?

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Happiness and longevity


Studies have shown that people with a cheery disposition are twice as likely to live longer than people who tend to have a negative and depressed mindset. A study that focused on nuns found that the nuns that lived to the oldest ages were the ones that were naturally cheerful and always smiling. Whereas, the nuns that weren’t as happy, didn’t tend to live as long. This links to the fact that a happy mindset is linked to a strong and healthy immune system, hence why the cheerful nuns may have lived longer than the uncheerful ones.


Happiness and psychological wellbeing


Researchers have found that people with an optimistic mindset tend to lead longer and more content lives. For years, there has been a known link between happiness and mental health, with studies showing that the people most prone to mental health problems are the people that aren’t as happy. Take drug and alcohol addiction, for instance, research has shown that the people undergoing treatment, such as Ultra Rapid Detox treatment, are the people who tend to have less positive mindsets. When it comes to mental health problems, such as addiction, depression, or anxiety, a lot of sufferers report being unhappy with their lives. This suggests that often a lack of happiness and positivity can contribute to the onset of mental health problems.

Happiness and physical health

Studies have shown that when it comes to physical health and happiness, there is a close link between them. A study showed that people who tend to lead happier lives have lower heart rates and lower blood pressure levels. Another study indicated that people who get sick more, tend to be people who aren’t as happy, as somehow a lack of happiness impacts the immune system. That’s not all, there are various other examples of how being happy can improve your health and wellbeing.

There are various studies that show how happiness and health link to give and impact each other, which is why we know that there is a link between the two. We may not know exactly how the link works, but one day soon we will do.