For whatever reason, relationships have gotten increasingly more complicated in the last decade. Toxic relationships are abundant these days, and it’s destroying our health!
A toxic relationship can be really hard to identify sometimes. Many people may think that it is a black and white picture, but it’s not. They say you’ll do anything for love, but then shame you when you stick around for the bad parts. However, there is a fine line between a healthy relationship and a toxic one. Toxic relationships make you change into someone you are not, abandoning you of all hope and fulfillment. A toxic relationship can not only destroy your mental health, but it can additionally tear down your physical health too. According to science, a toxic relationship is seriously bad for you.
A toxic relationship can wreck all of your attempts at a healthy lifestyle. They make you lose your drive for life, depressing you and making you feel almost lifeless. It’s not just dating and spousal relationships that can be toxic either; you can have a toxic relationship with a friend, coworker, or loved one. According to science, the emotional distress it causes can easily turn biological.
The study, known as the Whitehall II Study, followed more than 10,000 people for over 12 years. By doing so, they confirmed that there is a link between toxic relationships, stress, and an increased risk of developing heart disease. Humans have adapted something called conserved transcriptional response to advisory (CTRA). It is a type of expression associated with inflammation and low immunity. Its primal function is that when being chased by a predator, it allows you to have short-term benefits such as increased health, physical recovery, and an all around increased chance of survival.
Chronic stress from a long term toxic relationship can cause the activation of our brain’s CTRA. This eventually leads to other health issues such as adrenal failure. It isn’t always easy to identify a toxic relationship. However, if you all around just don’t feel like yourself, it’s very possible.
Take some time to assess the state of your relationships. If a relationship is causing more stress for you than fulfillment, you need to at least try to address the issue. If it is ineffective, cut the tie. You’ll be happy you did.