How love can affect body and mind

Since time immemorial, people have mentioned how relationships can have a huge impact on a human being. Not only do relationships affect your mental and emotional health, but they also play a vital role in your physical health. Although, not all relationships are made the same, and thus their effects on the mind and body also differ.

Cardiovascular Health

According to research, healthy relationships have been proven to increase the success ratio of aggressive treatments of heart diseases, like coronary bypass surgery. The impact of satisfaction was deemed just as important as other risk factors like obesity. This may be because of encouragement by partners of healthy behaviours like exercise.

Sexual intercourse is also a form of light exercise which increases the heart rate. People who have heart conditions can also engage in sexual activity if they can do other similar tasks, like walking up two flights of stairs, without chest pain. Other acts of intimacy, like holding hands and hugging, have led to lower heart rates and blood pressure, along with marked improvement in handling stressful situations like public speaking.

Mental Health

Studies indicate that sex improves mental health by reducing stress levels during difficult situations. People who have sex have also rated their health higher than those who do not. This is not just restricted to sex, but also fulfilling relationships. Further health benefits due to satisfying relationships include decreased risk of depression, distress, and overall mortality. Conversely, the loss of loved ones may lead to an increased risk of mortality, cardiovascular disease, depression, and immune suppression.

Attachment Styles

Attachment styles refer to the behaviour of individuals in terms of seeking or avoiding closeness with their partners. Partners accompanying each other in painful situations usually comfort each other, but this is not always the case. Studies have established that women with an avoidant nature experience more pain in the presence of their partners.

However, those who were closer to their partners experienced the release of oxytocin- a hormone associated with love and elevated moods- which led to reduced pain levels. Oxytocin can also be euphoric and addicting, which could explain why people perform intimate acts of love continuously. The withdrawal of oxytocin after the end of relationships has been linked to depressive side effects as well.

Platonic Relationships

Research has established that having a good circle of close friends can have the same effect as romantic relationships. One study found that people with strong friendships live longer than those who do not. This may be because of the positive influence of friends on lifestyle choices. Another study involving nuns exhibited that celibates who adopted a healthy lifestyle also lived longer and maintained high cognitive function. 

Conclusion

Relationships, whether platonic or romantic, have a different effect on everybody. It is just one of the multitude of factors that come into play in determining the health status of an individual. Just because you are single, does not mean you cannot live a healthy and long life.