Insecurity in relationships can lead to poor health

 

[caption id="attachment_10833" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Elizabeth Taylor"][/caption]

Carol Forsloff- According to scientific research recently released if you are insecure in your relationship you may end up with poor health later on. 

This might be worthy of discussion for those with rocky relationships, to either move on or get it straight. 

What the American Psychological Association reports is those people who feel insecure about their attachments to others might have higher risk for cardiovascular problems.   

“This is the first study to examine adult attachment and a range of specific health conditions,” said lead author Lachlan A. McWilliams, PhD, of Acadia University. He and a colleague examined data on 5,645 adults age 18 to 60 from the National Cormorbidity Survey Replication and found that people who felt insecure in relationships or avoided getting close to others might be at a higher risk of developing several chronic diseases. 

What researchers found is that ratings of attachment insecruity are positively associated with a wide range of health problems. 

. “Much of the health research regarding attachment has focused on pain conditions, so we were initially surprised that some of our strongest findings involved conditions related to the cardiovascular system,” said McWilliams. 

Researchers asked participants in the research to rate themselves as secure, avoidant and anxious.  Security refers to feeling close to others and willing to have people be dependent on you.  Avoidant attachment refers to problems getting close to others and having trust.  Anxious attachment refers to the worrying about rjection, feeling needing and finding people having trouble getting close to you. 

The participants answered a questionnaire about their health histories, including members of their families.


The authors found that people with anxious attachments were at a higher risk of chronic pain, stroke, heart attack, high blood pressure and ulcers. 

“These findings suggest that insecure attachment may be a risk factor for a wide range of health problems, particularly cardiovascular diseases. Longitudinal research on this topic is needed to determine whether insecure attachment predicts the development of cardiovascular disease and the occurrence of cardiovascular events, such as heart attacks,”said McWilliams. “The findings also raise the possibility that interventions aimed at improving attachment security could also have positive health outcomes.”