Sadly... having a cheerful disposition won't make you live any longer

Having a happy life will keep morale up but not help you live longer

ALWAYS looking on the bright side of life might lead to happier times but it will not make you live longer.

 

A study of a million British women found that being happy and relaxed had no direct effect on their life expectancy.

Study lead author Dr Bette Liu, of the University of New South Wales in Australia, said: "Illness makes you unhappy, but unhappiness itself doesn't make you ill. 

"We found no direct effect of unhappiness or stress on mortality, even in a 10-year study of a million women."

The research, published in The Lancet, tracked the women over three years and then asked to rate their happiness.

Five out of six of the women surveyed said they were generally happy.

 



The women who were least happy were those who smoked, didn't do enough exercise and lived alone



We found no direct effect of unhappiness or stress on mortality, even in a 10-year study of a million women.

Dr Bette Liu

 

The women who were least happy were those who smoked, didn't do enough exercise and didn't live with a partner. Women who enjoyed a regular drink or two were also found to be happier.

The research showed that other studies had assumed the cause of death was unhappiness when it was lifestyle choices unhappy people made that decreased life expectancy.

Co-author Professor Sir Richard Peto, of Oxford University, said: "It's good news for grumpy people because they don't have to add to their misery the fact that they might be killing themselves. 

"If stress makes you do something that's destructive then that leads to problems. Of itself it's not damaging. 

"There are a lot of urban myths. People need to know that getting ill is not your fault, but illness can make you unhappy. 

 

Five out of six of the women surveyed said they were generally happy

"The fact that people who smoked were generally unhappy ties in with the statistic two thirds of smokers want to stop. They are stuck with an addiction. "

He added: "Of course people who are ill tend to be unhappier than those who are well, but the UK Million Women Study shows that happiness and unhappiness do not themselves have any direct effect on death rate."

Other scientists around the world have praised the investigation and called for further research.

Dr Philipe de Souto Barreto, of the Institute of Ageing at University Hospital in France, said: "Such studies should be powered to allow comparisons to be made across age ranges and between men and women. 

"Cross-cultural studies could also shed light on the generalisability of interventions to promote happiness."