Do you see silver linings or are you a Victor Meldrew? OPINION

Nobody likes an overly cheerful colleague trilling in their ear, but it appears looking on the bright side is good for one’s health.

The snappily named Proceedings of the National Academy of Science has concluded that those who think positively can live for up to 15 per cent longer than those whose glass is half-empty.

While observers have since pointed out that the study focused largely on well-paid white people, most of whom have reasons to be cheerful, much is being made of the fact that having the right mindset gives us a better chance of making it beyond 85.

Clearly the Tiggers among us don’t always make old bones, but there is much to be said for thinking happy thoughts when the chips are down.

How many times have we heard remarkable stories of human endurance or Lazarus-like recoveries from almost certain death?

The protagonists in these real-life stories are never dour, grey-faced curmudgeons but almost always bright-eyed individuals, motivated by the old adage that every cloud has a silver lining.

What is currently going on in our once-great parliament has rendered some of the most cheerful people I know into arch pessimists when it comes to the issue of our country’s future.

While my only medical experience comes from occasionally being forced to watch Holby City when I can’t find the remote control, I would not be surprised if, in years to come, there is a generation of people blighted by IBS, or Interminable Brexit Syndrome.

The argument from some of our MPs is that only positive thinking will get us out of this mess and our new PM has perfected his sunny disposition to a very fine art.

While I am not sure I’ll ever subscribe to Mr Johnson’s view of the world, I do believe there is a danger in being too gloomy.

After all, 80 years ago this month my grandad and his pals were getting ready for war. No matter how bad we think things have become, it could be much worse.