Perseverance could protect against anxiety and depression, says new study



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What happens in a person's life clearly has an impact on their mental health – but it is also true that the way you respond to these events also plays an important role in mental health. With this in mind, a new study from Pennsylvania State University finds that the more you persevere and stick to the goals of life, and the more one is able to find the good in the bad situations, the more the risk of mental disorders in the following decades is weak.

The study was published this week in the newspaper of abnormal psychology.

To examine the impact of perseverance on mental health, and vice versa, the team examined data from just under 3,300 participants at three different times, from 1995 to 1996, from 2004 to 2005 and from 2012 to 2013. Monitoring participants' mental health over the years, including if they experience depression, anxiety and panic disorder during the study.

Researchers focused on three variables: persistence of goals, self-control, and positive reassessment. To measure the persistence of objectives, participants agreed to statements such as "When I'm facing a bad situation, I'm doing what I can to improve it" and "I rarely give up on something that I'm doing it, even when things are moving. For self-control, or the feeling of controlling one's life, the claims were: "When I really want to do something, I usually find a way to succeed" and "That I'm able to" to get what I desire is in my hands. And the positive reassessment was about the extent to which people could pull themselves together when things went wrong: "I find that I usually learn something meaningful in a difficult situation" and "Even when everything seems to be wrong, I can generally find a good side to the situation. "

The team found that the persistence of goals was linked to a larger decline in mental health disorders, including depression, anxiety and panic disorder, over the next 18 years. The link was not there for self-control or positive reassessment.

In addition, people who started with fewer mental health problems showed greater perseverance towards their life goals and a more positive reassessment thereafter. No link was found for self-control, which is odd, as previous research had shown that increased self-control was linked to better mental health. But the authors suggest that the lack of connection they found could be due to the fact that self-control has not changed over the years, which might suggest that it's a fairly stable part of the personality.

But the other links are encouraging as they suggest that our way of perceiving and responding to situations may affect our risk of & nbsp; mental health problems.

"Applying a positive reassessment when faced with adversities fuels optimism and the feeling that life is meaningful, understandable and manageable, thus helping to reduce the number of disorders over time," write the authors in their article. "Positive reassessment can develop individuals' internal resources by helping them to more easily accept uncontrollable life stressors. Plus, focusing on the bright side can directly reduce anxiety, depression, and anxiety.

And even better, these characteristics are, to a certain extent, exploitable: even if we do not react as well to negative events, we can learn to do so and, with practice, make it more reflexive. time.

"Our findings suggest that people can improve their mental health by increasing or maintaining high levels of toughness, resilience and optimism," Nur Hani Zainal, author of the study, quoted in a statement. "Aspiring to personal and professional goals, people feel that their lives make sense, and refraining from trying to achieve those goals or having a cynical attitude can result in costs. high for mental health. "

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What happens in a person's life clearly has an impact on their mental health – but it is also true that the way you react to these events also plays an important role in mental health. With this in mind, a new study from Pennsylvania State University reveals that the more you persevere and stick to the goals of life, and the more one is able to find the good in the bad situations, the more the risk of mental disorders in the following decades is weak.

The study was published this week in the newspaper of abnormal psychology.

To examine the impact of perseverance on mental health, and vice versa, the team examined data from just under 3,300 participants at three different times, from 1995 to 1996, from 2004 to 2005 and from 2012 to 2013. Monitoring participants' mental health over the years, including if they experience depression, anxiety and panic disorder during the study.

Researchers focused on three variables: persistence of goals, self-control, and positive reassessment. To measure the persistence of the objectives, participants agreed to statements such as "When I face a bad situation, I do what I can to change it for the better" and difficult "For self-control, or the feeling of controlling his life, the affirmations were: "When I really want to do something, I usually find a way to succeed" and "That I'm able to get what I desire is between my hands. And the positive reassessment was about the extent to which people could pull themselves together when things went wrong: "I find that I usually learn something meaningful in a difficult situation" and "Even when everything seems to be wrong, I can generally find a good side to the situation. "

The team found that the persistence of goals was linked to a larger decline in mental health disorders, including depression, anxiety and panic disorder, over the next 18 years. The link was not there for self-control or positive reassessment.

In addition, people who started with fewer mental health problems showed greater perseverance towards their life goals and a more positive reassessment thereafter. No link was found for self-control, which is odd, as previous research had shown that increased self-control was linked to better mental health. But the authors suggest that the lack of connection they found could be due to the fact that self-control has not changed over the years, which might suggest that it's a fairly stable part of the personality.

But the other links are encouraging, as they suggest that the way we perceive and respond to situations can affect our risk of mental health problems.

"Applying a positive reassessment when faced with adversities fuels optimism and the feeling that life is meaningful, understandable and manageable, thus helping to reduce the number of disorders over time," write the authors in their article. "Positive reassessment can develop individuals' internal resources by helping them to more easily accept uncontrollable life stressors. Plus, focusing on the bright side can directly reduce anxiety, depression, and anxiety.

And even better, these characteristics are, to a certain extent, exploitable: even if we do not react as well to negative events, we can learn to do so and, with practice, make it more reflexive. time.

"Our findings suggest that people can improve their mental health by increasing or maintaining high levels of toughness, resilience and optimism," said study author, Nur Hani Zainal. in a statement. "The aspiration to personal and professional goals can give people the impression that their life makes sense.On the other hand, disengaging from pursuing these goals or adopting a cynical attitude can result in high costs for mental health. "

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