People unable to let go of stress ‘more likely to suffer poor physical health’

People who hold on to their negative emotional responses to stress for more than a day are more likely to experience poor physical health in later life.

This is according to a new study from the University of California, Irvine, which asked participants to complete an eight-day survey of their negative emotions, before assessing their chronic illnesses and functional limitations ten years later.

People tended to report greater negative emotions if they had experienced a stressor the previous day, with those whose negative responses carried over to the following day shown to be more likely to report health problems and physical limitations later in life.

These included chronic illnesses, functional impairments and difficulties with everyday tasks, with these associations emerging independently of participants' gender, education level and baseline health.

Psychological scientist Kate Leger, of the University of California, Irvine, said: "Stress … happens at work, it happens at school, it happens at home and in our relationships. Our research shows that the strategy to 'just let it go' could be beneficial to our long-term physical health."

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