Family, I think, is really important and so is maintaining relationships with someone you call family.
I think situations begin to get complicated when we start to break down what family means to an individual.
More on that later…
CNN wrote an article on the physical effects bad relationships with your family can have on a person.
These effects are usually greater than the ones someone may experience from a rocky situation with their spouse or significant other.
According to CNN, Sarah Woods, assistant professor of family and community medicine at UT Southwestern Medical Center stated: “Family relationships are long and emotionally intense.”
“These are people you are connected to forever. If you are sensitive to emotional stress, then being bathed in that stress would over time wear and tear on your body.”
Here are some things I took away from the article:
People feel they have to deal with family because family is always going to be around.
Family is forever, and in most cases, you can’t choose your family members.
For your own health benefit, encourage relationships with your family members no matter what because you never know when you might see them for the last time.
The article states “The study found strained extended family relations to be highly associated with a greater number of chronic conditions and poor health.”
“Oddly, the study found no such health association due to troubled relationships with spouses.”
Even though later on, the author mentions how constant bickering with your spouse could result in stress-related issues.
Also, the article doesn’t mention specific health issues…
Basically, bad relationships with the family will stress you out more than relationships with your significant other, which will lead to health issues.
Not necessarily groundbreaking news, but there’s a problem with how they interpret the results from the study.
I agree, bad relationships with someone you will probably see at a family gathering or will show up on your newsfeed when scrolling through social media can have a negative impact on your mental and physical condition due to high-stress levels.
But I don’t think family relationships should be forced in order to avoid this.
Every family member isn’t going to be your best friend and some people don’t have a family.
Some people consider their friends to be family and they have relationships with them that they’ll never have with a family member.
Some families are just dysfunctional and in these instances, it’s better for someone to remove themselves from a toxic environment to reduce stress levels.
I understand the author’s intentions, but I think the scientist behind the study left out important details that would’ve had a strong impact on the results they received.
Being cordial and getting through the four-hour family potluck is one thing, but to have to go out of your way to maintain a relationship with extended, I think, can put more stress on you.
Without some reciprocity, the lack of interest from the other can result in someone feeling discouraged because they couldn’t develop a relationship with a family member.
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