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Diario de Noticias, 23 June 2005
Luís Rojas Marcos, psychiatrist and professor at New York University.
“Optimism lengthens life and helps in dealing with problems at work”
Talking, having a sense of humour and spirituality, doing regular physical exercise and having a number of things that give us satisfaction is some of the advice given by psychiatrist Luis Rojas in order to be optimistic and, as a result, have a longer life and enjoy work more.
Introductions are hardly necessary when it comes to talking about Luis Rojas Marcos, the psychiatrist who was the executive president of the New York City Health and Hospital Corporation from 1995 to 2002. A leading light, like so many others, in the tragedy of 11-S, this native of Seville native resident in the United States for 37 years yesterday gave a presentation at the Baluarte Conference Centre at the invitation of Mutua Navarra.
During his speech, he called for greater emphasis on the concept of optimism in success at work and enjoying a longer life. "Optimism helps you to live a longer and better life”, said the psychiatrist during his talk.
Rojas explained that the concept of optimism has been studied very little because up until now psychologists and sociologists have been more interested in studying illnesses.
Even so, he emphasised the importance of the concept, for which he distinguished between two immunological systems: one which allows you to fight against physical disease, and the other, emotional, which helps you to overcome adversity. "I can tell you that, four years on, New York has managed to overcome 11-S", he said in this respect.
But how do you recognise if a person is an optimist? asked the psychiatrist. In his opinion there are three aspects that allow this to be evaluated.
First of all is the autobiographical perspective. "You can take a positive view or prefer to forget. The human being has the capacity to remove the intensity from what he has experienced. Thanks to this facility, we can get over the death of a loved one or forgive someone", pointed out Rojas.
This process is achieved by transferring the images and sensations of the memory stored in our emotional memory to verbal memory, by talking.
On this point, Rojas explained how he himself had had to get over the sensations and images he had retained of 11-S, in which he had been a direct protagonist.
When the second aircraft hit, Rojas went with the fire brigade to the provisional base they had set up 200 metres away from the Twin Towers. "My cell phone wasn’t working and I had to call the hospital director. A man told me to go into the Financial Center, where they would let me use the phone. While I was calling, the south tower collapsed and all the firemen with whom I had been just a few moments earlier were crushed to death,” he recalls.
A second aspect of analysing optimism is hope, "believing that what we wish for will happen".
The third indicator of optimism, according to Rojas, is "How do we see the present? How do we explain the things that happen to us? Are they fleeting or permanent, do they affect all of us or just a part, and is it our fault or other people’s?" questioned the New York University professor.
Being an optimist is important, according to Rojas, because it can affect our work. By way of example, the psychiatrist cited a study carried out in Minnesota (USA) by the insurance company Metropolitan Life on 3,000 of its salespeople.
The company recruited three different groups of employees: those who passed the exam and had an optimism rating of 4 to 5 points on a scale of 10; a second team who passed and had an optimism rating of 5 to 7 points, and a third team who failed the exam but had high levels of optimism.
"At the end of two years, the employees who had sold the most policies were those in the third group. They sold more because they made more calls, as they thought that sooner or later they would end up selling a policy", he said, to the audience’s bemusement.
Work is a source of stress, but in Rojas’ opinion, being an optimist can help to deal with this situation.
The doctor concluded his conference with some advice for stimulating our capacity to adapt to life and work.
"Talking can help prevent a heart attack and removes intensity from emotions that could overwhelm us", stressed the psychiatrist. “Furthermore, you need to have a sense of humour and spirituality. Other influences include physical exercise, doing volunteer work and having variety in your life. We need to satisfy ourselves with different situations", he specified.
In any event, Spanish women are fortunate because, according to Rojas, they have the greatest life expectancy after the Japanese. The men, though still in a good position, are worse off in fourth place.
4 February 1905: Mutua Navarra
Luis Rojas raises high expectations wherever he goes, and yesterday he did not disappoint, to the great satisfaction of Mutua Navarra, the organiser of the event and its protagonist thanks to its centenary. The company, founded on 4 February 1905, wanted to distinguish this celebration with a guest of honour of the calibre of the renowned psychiatrist from Seville. The audience in the Baluarte, from the President of the Parliament, Rafael Gurrea, to the rest of the guests, including the Mayor of Pamplona, Yolanda Barcina (who arrived 40 minutes late) listened with rapt attention to his speech. After well-deserved applause, the leading role was passed to the 19 centenary companies to which the Mutua paid tribute yesterday: Calzados Pablo Goñi, Cerería, Confitería Donézar, Manterola, Unzu, Hotel Loizu, Chocolates de Navarra, Pedro Mayo, Café Iruña, Foto Mena, Helvetia Cervantes Vasco Navarra, Ochoa Lácar, Óptica Rouzaut, Cementos Portland, Diario de Navarra, Pirotecnia Oroquieta, Tejidos Ciga, the Chamber of Commerce, Caja Navarra, Confecciones Casa del Santo and Artesanía Vino Botas Las Tres ZZZ, as well as to its three former presidents, Fermín Lizarraga, Javier Orbaiceta and José María Aracama, and one of its founders, Lázaro Taberna. >A.U.S.
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