Negative Thinking Can Be Useful

Did you know that negative thoughts can help you achieve positive goals?

We generally believe positive thinking is the way to keep ourselves motivated and on track toward where we want to be. But envisioning a positive end result can turn out badly. Your brain starts to think you have already achieved your goal, and then obstacles become insurmountable.

What is necessary is a balance of positive with negative thinking. In other words, a dose of realism. This technique is called mental contrasting. It has been popularized by motivation researcher Dr. Gabriele Oettingen.

Dr. Oettingen discovered that the obstacles we think are preventing us from reaching our goals might actually be able to lead us to fulfillment. She developed a strategy called WOOP to help use negative thoughts positively.

WOOP stands for the four steps of the process: Wish, Outcome, Obstacle, Plan. The Wish is the desired goal. The Outcome is the result or consequence when the wish is fulfilled.

The Obstacle is not an external barrier. Identifying the inner Obstacle allows you to find the energy and path necessary to overcome it and fulfill the wish. The Plan addresses how to deal with the obstacle. It is a response, either action or thought, that we can employ. Oettingen states this as the formula, “If [obstacle], then I will [action].” This is your plan to overcome the obstacle and achieve your goal.

0ettingen’s strategy uses negative thoughts about obstacles to create mental tension. You visualize not only the positive final achievement of your goal, but the negatives you must overcome along the path. That’s why you need a plan.

You can create an implementation intention, an “if-then” plan to help automate your actions. This is a situational cue to initiate a predetermined goal-directed action on your part. If your path toward a weight loss goal involves a 30-minute workout during the lunch hour, but you know you sometimes don’t have time for a full hour break, your plan might be “If I don’t have time for my lunch break workout, I will walk around the neighborhood for a half hour after I park the car in the driveway but before I go into the house.”

Don’t just reject negative thoughts. Use them to counteract overactive positive thoughts in order to achieve your goals.

Why do I get more bruises as I age?

Bruises occur when blood vessels break and the blood pools under your skin. Your blood vessels become more fragile as you age. Excessive sun exposure also makes blood vessels rupture more easily.  Your skin becomes thinner as you get older. You are more likely to have balance issues that cause you to bump into objects or even fall.  If you are taking a blood thinner medication such as coumadin, or even a baby aspirin for your blood pressure, this too can lead to increased bruising. So can use of topical or oral corticosteroids.  Bruising with aging is called senile purpura. These patches, often on the back of your hand or the outer part of your forearm, look like irregular dark purple or red patches. Unlike other bruises, they don’t change color or go away within about a week.  Bruises on older skin stay the same color for weeks or even months. They fade slowly to a brownish stain that may be permanent. Luckily, these bruises are not dangerous. Unluckily, there’s nothing you can do once one appears.

To learn more about bruises, please visit the exhibit on Healthinfo Island at http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Healthinfo%20Island/98/40/26 during the month of October 2026.

For information about senile purpura:

• https://dermnetnz.org/topics/senile-purpura
• https://www.merckmanuals.com/professional/hematology/bleeding-due-to-abnormal-blood-vessels/senile-purpura
• https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7992766/
• https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5605207/
• https://www.healthline.com/health/senile-purpura

There’s a Word For It: Iatrogenic

“Iatrogenic” is an adjective to describe an illness caused by a healthcare provider, medicine, treatment or healthcare system such as a hospital stay. It comes from Greek word roots meaning “created by a healer.” 

Examples of iatrogenic issues include drug side effects, hospital acquired infections, and surgical errors.

No medicine is perfect. Common drug side effects occur in about 10% of cases. These are usually minor issues such as headaches or rashes. Uncommon side effects impact from 0.1-1% of people taking a particular medication. Rare or very rare effects such as life-threatening allergic reactions or major organ damage affect fewer than one in a thousand people.

To learn about potential side effects of any medication, be sure to read the fine print on the package insert. You can also find out more at the Drugs.com database, which offers detailed information about side effects of both prescription and over-the-counter medications.

If you ever have a serious medication side effect, be sure to let the US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) know about it: https://www.fda.gov/safety/medwatch-fda-safety-information-and-adverse-event-reporting-program/reporting-serious-problems-fda This can help other people avoid health issues caused by medicines.

Hundreds of thousands of US hospitalized patients contract new, and potentially very harmful, infections while in the hospital. Some acquire more than one. That’s about 2.6-4% of all hospital patients.

Common risk factors for getting a hospital acquired infection (HAI) include:

• Antibiotics- These strong medications disrupt the normal body microbes, allowing dangerous bacteria to take over.

• Invasive devices- Breathing machines, catheters and tubes provide methods for harmful germs to enter the body.

• Long stays- The more time spent in a healthcare facility, the more exposure to dangerous microorganisms.

• Weakened immune system- People who are seriously ill along with the very young and very old are more likely to have less effective immunity.

The most common types of hospital acquired infections include:

• Bloodstream infections- 14% of HAI cases, often introduced by central line IV tubes.

• Pneumonia – 15% of lung infections are caused in the hospital by ventilators and other breathing equipment.

• Surgical site infections (SSIs)- These infections are caused by microbes entering the body during surgery, and account for 22% of HAIs.

• Urinary tract infections (UTIs)- Mainly introduced by urinary catheters, these are almost a third of all HAIs.

Hospital acquired infections can be mitigated through key prevention strategies used by healthcare providers. These include:

• Antibiotic stewardship – Take care to avoid drug resistance.

• Aseptic techniques – Use personal protective equipment and sterile barriers during procedures.

• Device management – Use only when absolutely necessary and remove promptly.

• Disinfect room surfaces – Regular environmental cleaning using bleach can reduce drug-resistant pathogens.

• Hand hygiene – Hands should be washed with soap and water or alcohol-based hand sanitizer before and after each patient contact.

Patients and visitors can also help prevent HAIs. They should wash their hands often and remind everyone, including hospital staff, to wash their hands before touching the patient or any medical devices.

Surgical errors are very rare, happening in about 1 of every 112,000 surgical procedures, or about 4000 annually in the US. Almost one in ten surgeons have made a medical error at some point. The two most serious types of surgical errors are wrong-site or wrong-patient surgery (happening about 40 times a week in the US) or foreign objects such as sponges or clamps left inside when the surgical site is closed (about 39 times a week).

Medical providers are human and can make mistakes. Healthcare team members are expected to look out for each other’s errors to protect their patients. In a meta-analysis of retained surgical equipment, it was found that poor communication among the operation team was an important factor in this type of error.

A meta-analysis of the effects of poor communication on patient safety showed that adequate and timely information shared among healthcare workers, patients and caregivers could prevent at least 10% of patient safety events. The researchers concluded that “Research is needed to develop effective interventions and to learn more about how poor communication leads to patient safety incidents.”

Healthinfo Island Displays and Exhibits for October 2026

In Second Life, you can teleport to any of the eight displays and exhibits using the SLURLs in this posting. While there, click on the poster with the same name as the title of the poster set, and you will get a notecard that contains all the text of the posters plus descriptions of the images. If you click each poster, you will get a private message with additional information and live links.  There's an animal visiting one of the displays. Can you find it?

Nutritional Needs Differ by Gender
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Healthinfo%20Island/195/158/22



Medical Myths  & Misconceptions (Vol 2)
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Healthinfo%20Island/188/181/24



Monkeypox
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Healthinfo%20Island/172/155/22



Alcohol-related Cancers
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Healthinfo%20Island/114/79/24



Bruises
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Healthinfo%20Island/98/40/26

How Stress Impacts Health
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Healthinfo%20Island/50/28/28

ADHD is a Common Brain... Oh, shiny!
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Healthinfo%20Island/24/23/30

By Gum!
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Healthinfo%20Island/21/63/32


Central Pavilion of Healthinfo Island
Check out the calming breathing exercise on the back wall!
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Healthinfo%20Island/128/126/24

Thank you to Mook for help with the posters this month.