The claim: If you consider yourself an argumentative person, here’s a good reason to simmer down a bit: According to a study published in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health, having frequent conflicts with anyone in your social circle can double your risk of death in middle age.
The research: Researchers from the University of Copenhagen questioned nearly 10,000 men and women between the ages of 36 to 52 about their everyday social relationships with their partners, their children, other family members, friends, and neighbors, and then tracked their health from 2000 to 2011. They found that people who “always” or “often” reported having conflicts with anyone in their social scene were two to three times more likely to die during the study period compared to those who experienced conflicts “sometimes, seldom, or never.”
The meaning: It's no surprise that social conflict takes a toll on your health. “Arguing with people in your network at such a high frequency is likely to induce some perception of stress,” says Rikke Lund, lead study author and associate professor of social medicine at the University of Copenhagen. “And stress has a number of consequences, both physiological, like increased blood pressure and higher levels of stress hormones, and psychological, like depressive symptoms.” The researchers controlled for depressive symptoms, leaving the physiological results of stress as the likely culprit.
The bottom line: Avoiding all conflict isn't healthy either (research shows repressing your feelings also leads to higher levels of cortisol), so your best bet is finding a middle ground.
Source: Prevention
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