Prophylactic, or preventive, healthcare has an important role in helping us stay healthy.
In medicine, the term prophylactic is used to describe procedures and treatments that prevent something from happening. For example, a prophylactic MMR vaccine protects against three diseases: measles, mumps, and rubella.
Vaccines are given by injection but some are given orally or sprayed into the nose.
Most of the vaccines we get are prophylactic vaccines although they are not guaranteed to be 100 per cent effective.
But what about what happens upstairs inside the noggin? Are there any vaccines to help our thinking and prevent negative and toxic thinking?
Optimism is a powerful prophylactic and one of the most effective front line preventative measures I know.
The word prophylactic comes from the Greek for “an advance guard” and optimism (and the positive thinking and hope that flows from it) is surely the best advance party we have.
Optimism helps us combat stress, parry negative thinking and fight off toxicity. It is a mental health protector and helps shields us from threats. It is also a vital source in motivating us to move forward and engage in meaningful and productive activities.
Optimists don’t believe everything will be honky dory because optimists know that’s not how life works – bad things happen to good people and good things happen to ‘bad’ people.
Optimists are hopeful and confident about the future because they are presilient, resilient and adaptable. They use their positive thinking to creatively find solutions and opportunities to ‘mine the gold’ and spread hope.
Optimists know that the odds will always be stacked against you if you permit negative thinking to roam around your mental landscape like a headless chicken.
Optimism is a cultivated and learned behaviour and by living it you stack the odds in your favour by anticipating good, expecting favourable outcomes and looking for the best in human nature.
A self-administered daily dose of optimism prevents the rot and rallies your best possible self into action by boosting your mood and well-being. These doses are given orally through positive self-talk.
Optimism is a health protective factor whereas pessimism is positively associated with mortality.
Make optimism the leitmotif of your life. Optimism begets optimism.