I think so. Moods that are "less than happy" are just some level of stress, and all stress affects your health. Somebody has written a lot about this here: http://www.xubera.com/ It also affects the health of the people around you -- since they have the stress of dealing with the individual with the sour mood. (There's a study about the effect of a mother's mood on her children: http://www.mrc.ac.za/mrcnews/july2005/mom.htm) Also, happy people tend to have a bigger social circle (people generally like being around positive people), so if you're generally happy, and fall into a funk, there's probably somebody you can count on to "talk things over with" to regain your perspective. In the home I grew up in, negative comments were simply not allowed... if I couldn't figure out how to put a positive slant on something, I was sent to my room until I figured out how to say what I wanted to say in positive way... this has probably biased my view on this subject -- but I sure am glad I had to live through that as a teen -- rather than be a negative crank in my old age! I don't know if I'm healthier as a result -- I can't remember the last time I had a cold... more than 5 years ago. I think that's pretty healthy. re: punishment I should have said, it happened in teen years, and I don't really remember it feeling like punishment... more like I just had to come to terms with the fact that I didn't "rule". My parents were European immigrants, very liberal, but also big on taking responsibility.

Norman Mailer wrote a whole book demonstrating why (though he didn't come from a Biblical starting point) it is true that "A merry heart does good like a medicine." He had a disease that 99% die from, and helped cure himself with laughter and positive thinking. Or maybe he was just in that 1%--but he had a lot more fun getting better than most of them!

Yes, Yes, and Yes. Thoughts are things.

yeah thats called psychosomatic disorder. our thoughts are powerfull tools that can affect our health, actions, everything...

YES ... ever heard of the placebo effect ... ??? ... how about Faith Healing ... ??? ... or as already mentioned, psychosomatic disorders ??? ... or dymentia, halucinations (like "I can fly, just watch this!" and off the roof he goes), or many other mind problems ... need I say more ... ??? In the duality of Taoism, the mind and the body are seen as flip sides to the same coin, and both must be healthy for the person to be in good health ... each one does affect the other.

Stress is a killer, literally. It's been proven medically. That alone should answer your question.

I am sure that medical studies indicate that your moods do, indeed, affect your health. eg in times of stress (eg war), fertility rates in women drop dramatically, indicating that hormonal levels have been affected. There are many other aspects of health that can be attributed to negativity eg gastro-intestinal upsets, headaches etc I think that if you were always happy, or at least had a positive outlook, your health would be, overall, better. NOthing will stop you from some things, but even cancer sufferers with positive outlooks overall have better recovery rates than those with negative thoughts.

Thoughts=Electrical signals in your brain=electrons(which are matter) Getting shocked would be like being hit with a bunch of thoughts!

YEs. I have suffered in the past four years from physical distress caused purely by my anxieties or anxious thoughts. It's getting better, but it can be hard to control your own mind if you are mentally ill in some way.