Relationship insecurity can actually lead to heart problems.

Insecurity and anxiety about relationships with others, known as anxious attachment, could lead to heart disease say researchers. Scientists have studied the effects of healthy and unhealthy relationship dynamics, finding that people who felt insecure and anxious or shun getting close to others are at risk for a variety of health problems, including heart disease.

Lachlan A. McWilliams, PhD, of Acadia University looked at data from 5,645 adults age 18 to 60 who took part in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication, finding that insecure relationship dynamics leads to several health problems that surprisingly included cardiovascular disease. Anxious attachment was associated with a higher risk of high blood pressure, stroke and heart attack.

Much of the health research regarding attachment has focused on pain conditions, so we were initially surprised that some of our strongest findings involved conditions related to the cardiovascular system," said McWilliams. The scientists looked at three specific types of relationship attachments to find the link between insecurity or anxious attachment - feeling needy, insecure, anxious or mistrusting about relationships with others - and heart disease