© iStockAnger is linked to heart problems and stoicism to muscle stress in study of couples.
New research from UC Berkeley and Northwestern University, based on how couples behave during conflicts, suggests outbursts of anger predict cardiovascular problems later in life.
Conversely, shutting down emotionally or "stonewalling" during conflict raises the risk of musculoskeletal ailments such as a bad back or stiff muscles.
"Our findings reveal a new level of precision in how emotions are linked to health, and how our behaviors over time can predict the development of negative health outcomes," said UC Berkeley psychologist Robert Levenson, senior author of the study.
Comment: According to Dr. Gabor Maté, how we handle our emotions is a key indicator of health. Healthy individuals consciously feel angry when they're violated in some way — and they react assertively to protect themselves. However, studies have shown that couples who consistently demonstrate high levels of hostile behavior toward each other have slower healing times of physical wounds and higher levels of inflammation. Suppressing emotions also takes its toll because physiologically, we don't cease to feel the emotions we bury - our organs are being bathed in stress hormones day after day which eventually leads to disease. Learning to self-regulate our emotions is key to maintaining both our physical health and our relationships.