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Optimism and Health

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Optimism and Health Paper
The article I read dealt with the affects optimism had on coronary artery bypass patients. The average age of the 51 patients used was 48.5 years and they were all men. It set out to prove whether patients who were optimist recovered both physically and psychologically after surgery. To be able to determine those that were optimistic and those that were pessimistic, the researchers had the patients answers questions. The questions were asked six to eight days prior to the surgery. They were question concerning how the patient felt about the surgery, how soon the expected to be back to normal, and what their expectations were. These types of questions were what the researchers used to judge those who were optimistic. The optimist felt good about the surgery and expected a shorter recovery time the pessimist anticipated. The actual physical health of the patients was also documented by the researches. That information was obtained through the patients’ doctors.
The second stage of the research question the patients one week after the surgery. They were asked several questions again, this time concerning how they were feeling physically and psychologically. Optimistic patient s felt better in both areas. Pessimist showed a much lower n rate of satisfactory feelings. The researchers also had the doctors answer questions regarding the true physical well being of the patients. Surprisingly, optimists showed better signs of recovery then the pessimist did. The optimists were actually recovering better physically then the pessimist. There was a six-week follow up visit, to judge if optimism affects the amount of complications or not. However, there were not enough patients who developed any complications to make this part of the study reliable.
The next stage of the research was to have the patients reevaluated six months post surgery. The questions they were asked pertained to their emotions and how the felt mentally. The optimists were very happy. They were also asked if they had returned to normal activity and if they had how long after the surgery it took them to return to these activities. The optimist had returned to much of their normal activities, while the pessimist had only returned to some. The optimists were in fact able to return to work, begin vigorous physical activities including sexual activity, returned to activities with friends, and participated in their hobbies. Another question that was asked pertained to how the patients felt about their surgery overall. The pessimists were not pleased with the results of the surgery or with the surgery itself. However, the optimists were very pleased with their results and with the entire surgery. As for their actual physical well-being, doctors’ reports showed tat the optimists were in fact recovering at a much faster rated then the pessimist. The doctors’ reports showed that the patients that had returned to their normal activities were well enough to do so.
The report concluded that optimism in fact had a positive affect on a person’s well-being both physically and psychologically. The results showed that optimism had a very positive affect in both areas. It also mentioned that there was in fact room for error because a patient may not be truly honest with how they felt. However, the reports from the doctors were enough to see which patients were actually recovering well physically.
I believe the study was a very valid study. The researchers made sure they had patients that were in the same general age group. They also made sure that the patients were undergoing the same procedure. If they had patients undergoing different procedures, there would be no way to tell if they were recovering faster due to being optimistic or because of the average recovery time for their particular surgeries. I was also impressed with the fact that the researchers questioned the patients before the surgery to know which were optimistic before hand. The fact that they questioned the patients several times after the surgery, showed that they were concerned about the long term affects of optimism. The researchers did not only rely on the patients telling them how well they were doing, but they had the actual doctors’ reports showing how the patients were recovering after the surgery. This to me showed that the researchers too into consideration that some patients may not be completely honest with their actual physical well-being.

References
Scheier, M. E., Mathews, K. A., & Magovern, G. J., Lefebvre, R. C., Abbott, R. A., Carver, C. S.(1989, December). Dispositional optimism and recovery from coronary artery bypass surgery: The beneficial effects on physical and psychological well-being.. US: American Psychological Association, 57(6), 1024-1040.

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