Does unhappiness cause poor health?

People tend to think that unhappiness causes disease or illness, but a recent study shows that this is not true.

Dr Bette Liu from the University of New South Wales in Australia looked at over a million women (aged 55-63) over a 10 year span.

The researcher found that only after becoming sick did rates of happiness decrease, not the other way around.  The conclusion of this study is that poor health causes unhappiness. Dr Lie says: "We found no direct effect of unhappiness or stress on mortality".

Therefore, it makes very good sense to focus on being healthy, as a way to stay happy.

It's almost obvious that if focused on health ( good nutrition, exercise, sleep hygiene, hydration),  that happiness would follow.

What is "The Longevity Project" ?

In 1921 Lewis Termin (Stanford University psychologist) surveyed 1,500 elementary school students on lifestyle habits. He continued to follow them until his death in 1956. Other academics continued the study and in 1990 Howard Friedman and Lesie Martin analyzed the data looking for factors contributing to lengthy life spans. They came up with 5 factors more astonishing traits:

1) Those who engaged in service work and helping others  lived the longest.

2) High achievers, despite high levels of stress, lived longer then underachievers.

3) Moderate exercise is as beneficial as grueling workouts, in fact, may be better for longevity.

4) Some worry is better than too much optimism, as it forces one to be prepared for adversity.

5)Women who most often reached climax,  also lived the longest.