Changing Your Outlook On Life May Lower Your Dementia Risk

4 min readResearch suggests that being optimistic can lower your risk of dementia.Optimism may help to lower inflammation in the body, among other things.Experts say you can learn to be more optimistic.Despite all of the devastation dementia can cause, scientists still haven’t pinpointed a guaranteed way to prevent the disease. But now, new research suggests there’s one personality trait that may at least be linked to a lower risk—and it may be good for your mental health as well.The trait is optimism, i.e., having a positive outlook about the future. The study, which was published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, tracked participants over 14 years and found that those with a sunnier attitude were less likely to develop dementia over time.While it’s easy to assume that you’re going to miss out on these perks if you’re more of a glass half empty kind of person, doctors say there are things everyone can do to increase their feelings of optimism in life. You can even end up with bonus benefits, too. Here’s how.Meet the experts: Thea Gallagher, PsyD, clinical associate professor at NYU Langone Health and cohost of the Mind in View podcast; Davide Cappon, PhD, neuropsychologist at Tufts Medical Center; and Clifford Segil, DO, a neurologist at Providence Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, California.What did the study find?The study tracked more than 9,000 dementia-free adults aged 70 and up who participated in the Health and Retirement Study for 14 years. Study participants were given a 10-item questionnaire that measured their levels of optimism at the start of the study, and then again two years later. From there, the researchers looked to see who developed dementia during that 14-year follow-up period.Participants were given points based on how optimistic they were, and their totals were compared against what the researchers found to be average levels of optimism in the population.The researchers found that a one-standard-deviation increase in optimism was linked with a 15 percent lower hazard of developing dementia. (That “deviation” was the statistical difference between having an average level of optimism and being more optimistic than average.)Through these findings, researchers concluded that optimism could be part of “dementia prevention initiatives” in the future.Why might optimism lower your risk of dementia?One thing to note: This observational study didn’t prove that being optimistic staved off dementia or prevented it. Instead, it found a link between self-reported optimism levels and a lower risk of developing dementia.There’s also this to consider: A low mood or even depression can surface in the early stages of dementia, which complicates things. “If you just see that low optimism is linked to dementia, it’s hard to know what’s driving what,” says Davide Cappon, PhD, a neuropsychologist at Tufts Medical Center. To be fair, the researchers tried to compensate for this by excluding dementia cases that occurred within the first two years.Still, experts say there may be something here. “While this study doesn't prove that optimism directly prevents dementia, it does suggest that optimism may be one piece of a much larger healthy aging puzzle,” says Thea Gallagher, PsyD, clinical associate professor at NYU Langone Health and cohost of the Mind in View podcast. “One likely reason is that optimistic people tend to experience less chronic stress, which means lower long-term exposure to stress hormones like cortisol and less inflammation, both of which have been linked to cognitive decline.”Not only that, but the act of being optimistic itself might be good for your brain. “Optimism requires higher-level brain functioning,” says Clifford Segil, DO, a neurologist at Providence Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, California. It also uses different areas of your brain and requires you to adapt as circumstances change, he says.More optimistic people also tend to stay more physically active, socially connected, and engaged with life—“factors we know support cognitive resilience,” Cappon says. As a result, he says the optimism-dementia link is “probably a combination of biological, behavioral, and psychosocial effects working together.”Being optimistic is definitely something to strive for, according to Gallagher. “In many ways, optimism creates an upward spiral: It encourages healthy behaviors, those behaviors improve both physical and mental health, and that can reinforce optimism,” she says.If you’re not naturally optimistic but want to be—how can you change this? While some people are more optimistic than others at baseline, experts say this is a trait that you can work on.“One of the biggest misconceptions is that optimism means pretending everything is fine,” Gallagher says. “Healthy optimism is actually realistic. It's acknowledging that life is difficult while believing your actions still matter and that you can cope with challenges.”She suggests doing things like practicing gratitude, reflecting on times you've successfully navigated adversity, and focusing on what’s within your control rather than what isn't. Gallagher also recommends “challenging” catastrophic thoughts. Meaning, if your automatic response is to think you’re completely screwed when something goes wrong, instead acknowledge that the situation isn’t ideal and try to think of a solution or more positive next steps.“Ultimately, optimism isn't about seeing the world through rose-colored glasses,” Gallagher says. “It's about believing that even when life is hard, your choices today can positively influence tomorrow.”Carina Hsieh, MPH, is the deputy features editor of Women’s Health. She has more than a decade’s worth of experience working in media and has covered everything from beauty, fashion, travel, lifestyle, pets, to health. She began her career as an intern in the fashion closet at Cosmopolitan where she worked her way up to Senior Sex & Relationships Editor. While covering women’s health there, she discovered her passion for health service journalism and took a break to get her Masters in Public Health. Post-grad school, she worked as a freelance writer and as The Daily Beast’s first Beauty, Health, and Wellness Reporter. Carina is an alum of the Fashion Institute of Technology and the Yale School of Public Health. She and her French Bulldog, Bao Bao, split their time between Brooklyn and Connecticut. She enjoys reformer Pilates, (slow) running, and smelling the fancy toiletries in boutique fitness class locker rooms.