A Bad Marriage Can Kill You
Heart disease, frown lines and obesity in women can be symptoms of a stressful marriage.
Hang up the phone.
Leave the house. Put down the donut. Separate yourself. New news out of the UK shows that having a stressful marriage can increase a woman's risk of heart disease. So if your marriage is giving you more misery than pleasure, according to this study, it's best to break it off before your health takes a downward spiral.
Turns out, being in a stressful, strained relationship not only increases blood pressure, it also increases the wives' cholesterol and obesity rates.
But don't think only the women suffer from these bad relationships. Their male counterparts, otherwise know as their husbands, also suffer from depression and stress. It doesn't just manifest itself in disease.
Hey, I say use this to your advantage. The next time you're in a fight with your man, storm out of the room while exclaiming at the top of your lungs, "At least I'm not giving you heart disease!"
And, oh snap, he can't say a thing.
"If you are interested in your cardiovascular risk—and we all should be because it is the leading killer for both genders—we should be concerned about not just traditional risk factors [such as blood pressure and cholesterol] but the quality of our emotional and family lives," said a researcher.
And, Nancy Henry, a psychologist who worked on the study follows by saying, "We know from previous research that women are more sensitive and responsive to relationship problems than men. Improving aspects of intimate relationships might help your emotional and physical well-being."
In light of all this info, I have to wonder what kind of disease you get from working in a bad work environment.
Think about it, people—take care of your ticker!
Read more on LimeLife.
Discussion
People give up too easily. The problem isn't that someone is stressing you out and is giving you heart disease or making you depressed. The problem is how skilled enough are you to "roll with the punches" so to speak. Instead of pointing out another person's flaws and how they affect you, step back and look at yourself. Why are you intolerant of certain things? Sometimes the things that get to people are trivial and should be overlooked (and sometimes they're not). You have to pick your battles if you want to be happy and stay married. People that blame their spouse for how they feel are playing the role of a victim. You control your mood.
I think we internalize our emotions, so when we are happy and at peace we are more healthy in our habits and when we are stressed we use bad habits to get us through those tough moments. My first 3 year of marriage, I didn't get sick ONCE! Which is incredible seeing as how I used to get the flu constantly.
Illness, disease, massive health problems, all of these have been shown to be linked not just to your physical health, but your emotional health as well. Stress isn't exclusive to marriage...there is just the convenience of a partner there to share your stress with (on). Running away from that marriage is the same as running away from your own problems. Rarely does it actually deal with what is causing the stress. Occasionally, the only way to be stress free is to be freed of what stresses you, but if your married and it's not an abusive spouse, then try to deal with your issues first. Surprise of surprises, the pro-active response, while not easy to do, yields better results; Better intimacy levels, a calmer household, a deeper appreciation of your spouse, etc. And if you can't take care of it between the two of you (or the Nth of you, for the Polyam's out there) get some help.
I am not sure really how to feel about this article. I understand stress is serious, but coping is a treatment. To me this article is just another easy way out of your vows, and with the divorce rate what it is we don't need any extra reasoning. If your marriage is really that bad, yea reevaluate, but if its stressful maybe you just need to sit your partner down and be straight about it. Maybe your partner is stressed out too and it is manifesting itself differently. Usually problems in a marriage are not onesided. It took two to get you there and it will take you both to get you out. No, I am not going on my marriage experience so don't gear up to grab me on my marriage expertise, I am not basing this comment on my marriage. This more of an open ended thought based on the marriages I have seen good and bad, lasting and ending, and some of which are still in limbo.
I just think that this stress factor can be seen on both parties and if you married this person it is worth a shot to give it a chance and attempt to work it out before just giving up, stress can be reduced and a little communication goes a long way !!!!
