Connections between marital relationships and health

Two people are not in a relationship unless the behaviors and outcomes of one affect the behaviors and outcomes of the other. Individuals' physical are profoundly influenced by their partners. A large group of people support the fact that those who are romantic are healthier than those who plan to live single. All the primary research is done on the quality of relationships and health and stress is laid on the wrong aspects of marital communication.

Marital conflict also impacts the self rated health.  A fairly small but growing number of studies have shown that relationship conflict and other negative aspects of marriage are linked to early indicators of disease and are associated prospectively with morbidity and mortality. In a prospective large sample of women clinically diagnosed with coronary heart disease, marital stress was associated with increase in the risk of recurrent cardiac event above and beyond the detrimental effects of other types of stressors like work stress.

A recent survey on families and households depicted unhappy marriages related to slow and steady functional impairments some years later which gave rise to depression in both the partners.  Such a condition has also shown adverse results in their health.

Emotional inhibition in the context of relationship which has well known worse consequences for relationship intimacy may specially undermine physical health. It is observed that women those who inhibited their emotions during disagreements with their partners had a mortality rate four times higher over the women those who did not self- silence. Greater attachment avoidance predicted a higher frequency of negative behaviors and a lower frequency of positive behaviors during a relationship hinting at a mechanism through which attachment avoidance may influence immune responses to relationship conflict.

There are many kinds of mental disorders that arise when a relationship is not successful.  Mood disorder involves unusual intense and sustained sadness, melancholia or despair and it results in major depression also known as clinical depression.

It's a common belief that couples let themselves go after pairing off, and there may be something attached to it. According to a 2002 review of The New York times, people tend to gain weight as they settle down for marriage and lose weight when a marriage ends. But even the opposite has been witnesses. A happy couple can motivate each other to stay healthy. They will go to the gym together, set goals together and feel responsible for each other.

Regular physical intimacy appears to reduce stress and boost well being. People who frequently had sex were mentally healthier and more likely to report greater satisfaction with their relationship and life overall. These types of caring behaviors are so important: a touch on the arm, holding hands, a rub on the shoulder. It only takes a few seconds of contact to stimulate those hormones and to help overcome stress and anxiety. Sleeping next to someone you love and trust can help you fully relax and embrace sleep.

Depression and anxiety often go hand in hand, so it makes sense that relationships can affect depression in similar complex ways. In one small but highly cited study, women regardless of their personal and family history of depression were six times more likely to be clinically depressed if their husbands had been unfaithful or if their marriages were breaking apart.

Our romantic partners have a noticeable impact on how much alcohol we consume and how often. It's true that relationship conflict and a lack of intimacy can drive people to drink. Research suggests that both men and women drink more in response to relationship problems and excessive drinking in turn can add duel to those problems.

Parenting disputes, disagreements over money, or even questions as simple as who does which household chores have been shown to increase stress. Relationship insecurity or conflict is associated with poorer sleep and to make matters worse, sleep problems can exacerbate relationships problems, creating a vicious cycle.

References

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2644899/

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3150158/