But it is big stretch to say that because it reduces anxiety and depression then it reduces health issues – again never been tested.

So we come back to the defence that it’s a new science. Great – but then you need to be careful when quoting the research.

A simple piece of reserach would be to take a pessimist, tecah them the ABC’s, expose them to a virus and see if the catch a cold. This would give credibility to your arguments. Until this researh happens your comments are merely conjecture.

As you point out, there’s lots more testing to do. The field is relatively young, compared to studying the mechanisms of antibiotics, antidepressants or other medical interventions. I look forward to the ongoing research happening under the banner of “positive physical health” which we’ll start to hear about now that Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has funded 20 $250,000 grants for early-stage investigators. There’s lots of research to do. Some results will likely disprove current assumptions, while other results ought to better quantify and describe the benefits of optimism, resilience and positive psychology to physical health.