Kunjal Bansal, a 28-year-old Mumbai-based product designer, has been fretting about the future. Things haven’t turned out the way she had imagined. Right before the lockdown, she and her long-time boyfriend got hitched. Then followed the quarantine. Initially, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to spend all their time together. Romance filled the void created by social distancing. But shock awaited. Isolating for this long has resulted in bickering and volatile outbursts. It has changed their mood and mental make-up. What they don’t know yet is that it could be slowly changing their bodies too, according to a new study by Annals of Behavioral Medicine published by Oxford University Press.
Feelings to physiology
The way romantic partners feel about one another, even within a single day, can have acute effects on their biological functioning during sleep, the study reports. “Romantic feelings or the emotion of love are extremely rewarding experiences and lead to neurochemical changes in the brain. It releases oxytocin, dopamine and endorphins—chemicals responsible for happiness. This is modulated through the limbic system and reward pathways. This means that every emotion leaves an imprint and every imprint influences the body for the better or worse,” says Dr Naveen Jayaram, Consultant Psychiatrist, Sakra World Hospital, Bengaluru.
Heart health and emotions
Controlling these emotional changes is the heart, and the fluctuations recorded through it give us insight into just how receptive it is. The study brings out an interesting finding pertaining to this. When women showed closeness and love to their partners during the day, the partner’s overnight heart rate slowed by two-four beats per minute. In cases where there was more confrontation or irritability, the overnight heart rate in men was one and a half-three beats faster.
This shows the direct impact of fluctuating emotions on cardiovascular health. “Simply put, isolating in an environment filled with negative emotions resulting commonly from a loss of privacy or sense of space, isn’t good for the heart. When exposed to anger or related reactions persistently, the body’s natural response of ‘fight or flight’ causes the release of stress hormones, including cortisol and adrenaline. These cause blood vessels to narrow to help push blood to the heart that beats more rapidly to supply blood to the rest of the body,” says Dr Bhupinder Singh, Cardiologist, Columbia Asia Hospital, Ghaziabad.
Women enjoy a privilege
Women are immune to such overnight heartbeat changes, the study states. There could be several reasons for the same but one of the most probable ones seems their proclivity to express. Instead of putting a lid on the boiling pot and swallowing bitter emotions, women talk. It helps them clear accumulated toxicity due to negative emotions. It, therefore, allows them to have a better mind-body function.
The Prescription
Even though the need for autonomy has gotten compromised, there are ways of staying together rather than growing apart, according to Dr Shanu Srivastava, Physiologist, Indian Spinal Injuries Centre, Delhi. “In the present situation, arguments are born out of boredom. Recognise and avoid these. Don’t fall into common communication pitfalls like interrupting, correcting or nagging. Most importantly, establish a closer connection with your partner by being emotionally available. It will change the way your body, especially the heart, functions,” she says.