Type D personality people should correct warped thinking, distress

Other studies linked type D personality to cholesterol abnormalities, high blood pressure, insulin resistance, and an increased waist circumference, all of which may cause mental or emotional burnout and increase one's risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes.

The way type D personality harms one's health, says Barry J. Jacobs, spokesman for the American Heart Association, is that people who have a tendency toward negativity "react to stress and [to] negative events [...] with a greater release of stress hormones (like cortisol) and increased heart and respiration rates" -- than optimists do. Pessimists "also may be less apt to believe they have the power to take care of their own well-being, so they may not believe it's worth it to go to the doctor or be compliant with a medication regimen or follow a healthy lifestyle."

Jacobs offers a few strategies that can help: we should strive to correct warped thinking we demonstrate, for example, when we catastrophise (imagining the worst possible scenario), overgeneralise (viewing events as part of an endless pattern of misfortune) or personalise (thinking we played a role in bringing on our misfortunes.) Another important tool is finding our decompression valve by engaging in relaxation techniques that can ease stress and negativity. Decreasing negative emotions and increasing positive thinking; Health24 says, might help us to see the proverbial glass as half-full!

Read the full article on www.health24.com.