Our guest post today comes from Dr. Ronald Alexander.  It is adapted from his book, Wise Mind, Open Mind: Finding Purpose and Meaning in Times of Crisis, Loss, and Change (New Harbinger Publications, 2009).

Scientists at the Institute for Behavioral Medicine Research at Ohio State discovered after more than two decades of research how stress including arguments can alter the levels of certain hormones in the blood that can weaken one’s immune system, increasing their vulnerability to disease. This was especially true for women as men often “tune out” their partners in a disagreement. According to Dr. Janice Kiecolt-Glaser, a scientist in the research, “We’re not saying that conflicts in marriage are bad necessarily. They’re completely normal. It’s the way the couples disagreed Continue reading →