Arguing With Your Spouse Harms Your Heart Health

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Dr. Mercola

March 25 2006

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Arguing With Your Spouse Harms Your Heart Health

Arguing A study of 150 couples showed that women who are hostile during marital disputes are more likely to have atherosclerosis, as are men who behave in a dominating or controlling manner.

Researchers asked couples to discuss a sore subject that would trigger a fight for six minutes while being filmed. After tapes of those conversations and comments were reviewed and evaluated, patients were given CT scans to determine how coronary artery calcification affected their health, if at all.

Domineering behavior increased the risk of clogged arteries by 150 percent for men. Women who were hostile had double or more the number of cardiovascular blockages.

The men whose bodies showed the least amount of atherosclerosis were those in relationships in which both spouses could discuss a problem without being controlling.

Sources:

USA Today March 6, 2006

MSNBC March 3, 2006

Dr. Mercola's Comments:

Last year I ran a fascinating study about the direct connection between emotions and physical health. It showed that the pace of physical healing was governed by the amount of hostility married couples showed toward each other, as well as the lack of it.

So it's not surprising that marital discord can trigger all sorts of heart-damaging problems as well.

This is yet one more piece of evidence that happier people are generally healthier. Stress is a key factor in any illness and it plays a major role in the health of nearly every patient I see.

To completely eliminate stress from your life is virtually impossible and probably unhealthy. It is not that stress itself is unhealthy, without stress we would be bored to death. Exercise is a type of stress and without it our health rapidly deteriorates.

So it is not stress that is the problem but the way we handle it. If you don't learn how to deal with stress in a healthy way, your brain may actually "rewire itself," altering its connections in such a way so it affects the way the brain functions.

So what can you do about it?

Clearly the key is not to eliminate the stress itself but rather adjust your body's ability to tolerate it. I've found energy psychology tools, like the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), can be very useful to battle the dual effects of stress and depression.

Related Articles:

Don't Let Hostility Double Your Risk of Heart Disease

Young Hearts Beware! Anger Leads to Coronary Artery Disease

Losing Hostility Reduces Blood Pressure

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