optimism
Meaning of optimism: Distinct from denial: an accurate grasp of a diagnosis and a hopeful outlook about living with it can sit together.
Definition of optimism
Optimism is a general tendency to expect matters to turn out well and to notice the favorable side of a situation. Psychologists treat it as a fairly stable trait that differs from person to person rather than a passing mood, and it shapes how someone interprets an uncertain result, an unexplained symptom or a difficult stretch of treatment.
How is optimism different from denial?
| Optimism | Denial | |
|---|---|---|
| Grasp of the facts | Accurate; the diagnosis is understood | The information is pushed away or disputed |
| What is expected | That coping is possible and good days remain | That there is nothing to cope with |
| Effect on decisions | Usually keeps a person engaged with care | Can delay evaluation or interrupt treatment |
The two are often confused because both look calm from the outside. The dividing line is whether the facts have been taken in. Someone can describe a serious prognosis accurately and still expect to enjoy the coming months, and that combination is optimism rather than avoidance. Denial is also not always harmful; brief denial immediately after bad news gives a person time to absorb it, and it becomes a problem mainly when it persists.
What has research actually found?
A more optimistic outlook has been linked in studies with lower reported distress, better rated quality of life during illness, and a greater tendency to stay engaged with follow up and with rehabilitation. Those findings are consistent enough to be worth stating, though the associations vary between conditions and populations and the direction of cause is hard to separate, since feeling physically better also makes a person sound more optimistic.
Where does the positive thinking idea go wrong?
Research has not shown that outlook alters the course of a serious disease. Large studies following people with cancer have found that emotional wellbeing does not predict survival. The popular claim that a fighting spirit changes the outcome therefore has a cost: it implies that a person whose disease progresses failed to think correctly, which adds blame to an already heavy load. Attention to mood and morale belongs to the same territory as coping skills and palliative care, aimed at how life is lived with an illness rather than at the illness itself.
Used in a sentence
The care team noted the patient's optimism throughout an extended course of treatment.
Good to know
Optimism is not denial, since a person can hold an accurate understanding of a diagnosis alongside a hopeful outlook; research has not shown that outlook changes the course of a serious disease such as cancer.