Comments from the Dinosaur doc's Blog

I will give you guys a link to the Dinosaur Doc in my next post. You simply must read his post about What is Wrong with Positive Thinking.

The comments alone for this post were so right on that I had to take some of the information provided as I don't want to lose it.

One commenter on his blog posted this about studies done about positive thinking and the impact upon physical illness and survival:

"In a 2004 study by Penelope Schofield and her colleagues at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne, Australia that involved 204 lung cancer patients, there was no evidence that a high level of optimism prior to treatment enhanced survival. However, the study underscored the importance of optimism in relation to quality of life. Those patients who were more optimistic were less depressed and more likely to adhere to treatment.

Another new body of work goes beyond just looking at a positive attitude and is examining its biological underpinnings by studying immune function and stress hormones. So far, the findings are similar to the Schofield study, indicating that successful coping is not necessarily about having a positive outlook or striving for a cheery disposition. Rather, coping in a way familiar to you (which could involve anything from stress relief to exercise) can prove beneficial. In fact, if someone is a natural curmudgeon, then continuing to be a curmudgeon may be the very thing to help lower stress, bolster the immune system and, possibly, influence the success of the cancer treatment".1

The article "The Challenge of the Positive Attitude" was from the site: http://www.thewellnesscommunity.org

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The following was another comment by an anonymous poster. All I can say is right on sister!

"I believe it adds insult to injury to tell a person with a serious or chronic problem to just think 'Positive'! As if the person needs one more platitude."

What it reminds me of is when older men admonish a young woman to always smile as though it is owed to them. It is condescending and rude.


From the author of Nickle and Dimed, Barbara Ehrenreich wrote an article about the positivity cult so entrenched in our society. Having survived breast cancer, she was more than annoyed by the positivity entourage.

Here is a link to her article.

And lastly here is a small passage from that article which really resonated with me.

From Pathologies of Hope by by Barbara Ehrenreich

"But what is truly sinister about the positivity cult is that it seems to reduce our tolerance of other people's suffering. Far from being a "culture of complaint" that upholds "victims," ours has become "less and less tolerant of people having a bad day or a bad year," according to Barbara Held, professor of psychology at Bowdoin College and a leading critic of positive psychology. If no one will listen to my problems, I won't listen to theirs: "no whining," as the popular bumper stickers and wall plaques warn. Thus the cult acquires a viral-like reproductive energy, creating an empathy deficit that pushes evermore people into a harsh insistence on positivity in others."

Exactly.