Feeling insecure in a relationship may take its toll on the immune system, Italian research suggests.A study of 61 healthy women, showed that those who struggled to form close, trusting relationships may have weaker immune function.
Blood tests revealed that the women’s “natural killer” immune system cells did not function as well.
However, the study in Psychosomatic Medicine could not show if this made the women more susceptible to illness.
A person’s abillity to establish trusting, close relationships forms in childhood and as a result of a child’s relationship with his or her parents, experts believe.
Romantic relationships in later life can also have an impact on a person’s “attachment style”.
Study leader Dr Angelo Picardi explained that people who have attachment insecurity struggle to trust and depend on others, feel uncomfortable with emotional intimacy or worry about being abandoned by loved ones.
It has been shown previously that this sort of insecurity may be associated with health problems and how individuals react to or deal with stressful situations.
BBC NEWS | Health | Insecurity may ‘weaken’ immunity
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CD Damitio writes INDIGNIFIED — utopias and dystopias explored. Free to read.