Personality that is easy to stress and worry poses a danger to physical health

According to Purdur University research, frequent anxiety can lead to premature death, at least because these people tend to be more vulnerable to unhealthy behaviors such as smoking and addiction. alcohol and drug use.

'Studies show that high degree of neurological sensitivity can lead to premature death, and we want to understand why,' Daniel K. Mroczek, professor of family and development issues. in children, said. 'We have found that the tendency to worry or be easily stressed will lead to unhealthy behaviors such as smoking, and thereby increase mortality.
'This work is a warning that some personality traits can be very dangerous to a person's physical health.'

Prolonged anxiety and easy to fall into boredom, depression is the main character traits of neurotic people. In this study, scientists have looked at how smoking and alcoholism are related to this trait. A person with a high degree of neurological sensitivity tends to fall into anxiety or depression, and look for cigarettes, alcohol or drugs as a way of responding to things that aren't.

According to Purdur University research, frequent anxiety can lead to premature death, at least because these people tend to be more vulnerable to unhealthy behaviors such as smoking and addiction. alcohol and drug use.(Photo: iStockphoto / Mikael Damkier)

The results showed that smoking accounted for 25% to 40% of the relationship between neurological sensitivity and death. The remaining 60% may be biological factors, or other environmental problems encountered by 'weak' neurons, Mroczek said.

The researchers analyzed data on 1,788 people and smoking behavior and their character traits for 30 years (1975-2005). This is part of the data obtained from the VA Normative Aging Study, a long-term survey conducted on elderly patients treated at VA Boston Outpatient Hospital.

Mroczek and his colleagues, Avron Spiro III and Nicholas A. Turiano published their findings in the Journal of Research in Personality this month.

Understanding the link between personality and physical health can help doctors improve treatment and prevention programs, Mrozek said.

'For example, programs that specifically target neurotic people may be more effective than generic spread efforts,' he said. 'This feature can also be used to identify people at risk of involvement in unhealthy behaviors such as smoking or drinking alcohol.

The research was funded by the US Department of Warriors and the National Geriatric Research Institute.

Refer:

Mroczek et al.Do health behaviors explain the effect of neuroticism on maternal?Longitudinal findings from the VA Normative Aging Study.Journal of Research in Personality, 2009;43 (4): 653 DOI: 10.1016 / j.jrp.2009.03.016