It’s a well-known fact that your outlook on life can affect your mental wellbeing, and with the topic of mental health becoming increasingly ubiquitous, it’s easy to overlook the physical effects of having a positive or negative attitude. Whether you tend to lean towards “half empty” or “half full,” it’s important to know that personality traits like optimism and pessimism can also impact your physical health, including your skin.
How Your Attitude Can Affect Your Skin
Optimism and pessimism are mindsets—how we believe certain outcomes will come to be, and the way we view our possible outcomes can affect the skin in many ways…
One consequence that can arise from our mindset is stress. Stress causes a chemical response in the body that has been linked to inflammation and other serious skin issues. Thinking positively and maintaining an optimistic attitude can help minimize stress and anxiety, thus reducing the detrimental effects of stress on your skin.
Positive and negative thinking can also affect existing skin ailments. One study that examined the relationship between individuals with psoriasis and psychological variables, in this case dispositional optimism, showed that changing certain beliefs and expectations to positive ones resulted in a “better quality of life in psoriatics,” proving that negative or positive expectations and beliefs can have an impact on relapsing skin conditions.
Overall, having a realistically optimistic attitude has numerous health benefits that can lead to better skin. Here are some tips to help you maintain a positive attitude:
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Describe yourself and your life with positive words.
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Try to experience three positive emotions for every negative one, as proposed by Dr. Barbara Fredrickson, a leading scholar in the area of positive psychology.
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Surround yourself with positive people.
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Express gratitude every day.
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Practice generosity.
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Meditate.
