Seminar 5'2

1
Seminar 5.2

• You Are What You Think

2
Do Now

• Turn to the person next to you or behind you and
  make groups of 2 or 3.
• You will spend the next 4 minutes discussing your
  stress journal entries.
• For those of you who did not record any
  specifics, talk about the things that stressed
  you out this week.
• For those of you who did do the journal
  assignment, talk about whether you found it
  helpful to write about your stress.

3
The Crossing Over Game

• Everybody needs to stand up and walk to the back
  of the classroom.
• Now cross to the front of the room if you
• see the glass as half full
• have ever been told you have an attitude
• try to see something good in everyone
• make fun of people
• consider yourself an optimist.

4
Attitude

• Research shows that attitude has a direct impact
  on health.
• Pessimism vs. Optimism

5
Pessimism

• People react to life events in very different
  ways.
• People who tend to be pessimistic will focus
  negatively on events, placing them at greater
  risk for depression.
• Pessimism is a way of thinking that makes you
  more likely to give up when things go poorly,
  leading to depression. It is considered a risk
  factor the same way high cholesterol is a risk
  factor for heart disease.

6
Optimism

• Researchers have demonstrated that optimists live
  longer, have fewer health problems, do better
  academically, in business, in political elections
  and athletic competitions.
• Remember the old quote, People who say they can
  and people who say they cant are both right.

7
Pessimism vs. Optimism

• Pessimists and optimists would answer those
  questions differently.
• Personalizingdo you take responsibility/credit
  for the good and bad things that happen in your
  life or do you place blame and attribute success
  to good luck?
• Pervasivenessdo you view negative events as
  isolated or as part of a more general, overall
  problem?
• Permanencedo you see the effects of a life event
  as permanent or temporary?

8
Scenario 1

• Positive EventYou got an A on a chemistry test!
• Permanence
• The optimist would see this event as permanent.
  I am always going to perform academically.
• The pessimist would see it as temporary. Right
  now, Im doing okay.

9
Scenario 1 (contd)

• Pervasiveness
• Optimists would think pervasively that they were
  a good student.
• Pessimists would think more specifically that I
  did well on this exam.
• Personalizing
• The optimist would take credit for this success.
  I did well on this test because Im a good
  student and I worked hard.
• The pessimist would attribute this success to
  luck. This was just an easy exam.

10
Scenario 2

• Negative EventYou got an F on a chemistry exam!
• The optimist
• I didnt do well this time, but I will
  definitely improve for the next exam.
  (permanence)
• I didnt do well on this exam. (pervasiveness)
• This was a very difficult exam, and now I know I
  need to study more or get a tutor.
  (personalization)
• The pessimist
• I always do badly. Im a lousy student. The
  teacher didnt go over any of this stuff in
  class. He made me fail.

11
Its not always easy to be an optimist and
persevere.

• Here are a few examples of people who did.

12
Abraham Lincoln

• Lincoln had several nervous breakdowns and
  he lost a number of elections before he
• went on to be President of the United States.

13
Nelson Mandela

• Nelson Mandela was in prison for 26 years before
  he triggered an end to apartheid in South Africa
  and became president of his country.

14
Fixing Pessimism Toolkit

• The Utility Method
• Finding a more useful way to look at a situation.
  Rather than saying Im an idiot say Maybe I
  should find a tutor.
• The Double Standard
• Consider what advice you would give to a friend.
  We are usually a lot harder on ourselves than we
  are on others.
• De-Catastrophyzing
• The goal of this is to remind yourself that its
  not a huge crisis. (Nobodys dying.)

15
Ticket Out

• What was one stressful event that happened to you
  this week?
• How did you deal with it?
• How would you look at it differently with the
  toolkit?