Relation Zaper: How Long Term Relationships Benefit Men and Women

As a society, we often idolize stable and long term relationships, casting them as the foundation and bedrock upon which our society is built, and a source of healthy societal participants who help ground our values and raise kids in stable homes. Yet the benefits of long term relationships, whether they be marriages or not, are wide, and also include health benefits as well. Men and women who are in stable relationships tend to live longer, suffer from less heart disease, lung disease, Alzheimer's and diabetes, and also tend to have less bad habits and vices. Yet the benefits are not equal, and men benefit in ways that women do not, and vice versa. In today's article we're going to take a look at the health benefits of long term relationships for both men and women, and identify some areas of disparity where one gender benefits more than the other.

One area of clear disparity lies in the realm of depression. This common malady has recently begun to be taken seriously by the medical community as an actual physical ailment and no longer simply as a sign of moodiness or intractability. With the greater level of scrutiny has come the realization that women tend to benefit much more from marriage or cohabitation, as their rates of depression drop by two thirds when in such a relationship. Another area where they benefit lies in bipolar disorder, with women in stable relationships suffering from much milder attacks than their single counterparts.

It has recently been accepted that society has become infinitely more stressful for your average citizen, and that stress itself can be a killer. From increasing blood pressure and the chance of heart disease to general fatigue and insomnia, stress can truly lower the quality of living. Yet studies of people in relationships have found that married men suffer from less stress than single men when faced with similar challenges, as evidenced by their lower spikes in cortisol. Women, whether married or single, show no difference in their responses.

Finally when it comes to sex men and women both report being much happier in the a relationship than when they are single. Men however report that they are much happier when married, while women are only moderately happier. The reasons for this are varied and complex, perhaps dealing with quantity and not quality, but regardless men seem to enjoy themselves more when married than their partners do.

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