The Dating Epidemic: Why Our Culture's Dating Standards May Harm Your Health

This is not a blog to tell you that being promiscuous and not settling down will give you an STD and kill you. This is a blog to tell you that your dating habits may be detrimental to your health in more ways than you've probably thought about.

In our current culture, casual dating and short-term relationships are normal and perfectly acceptable. You're young, you're in high school or college, you date someone for a little while, grow apart, and split up. When most start a new relationship, they're rarely thinking that they've found "The One." In fact, "The One" is so elusive that nowadays not many people aspire to find them at all. Instead, people are happy with what they have for as long as they have it, relish in being in a "just talking" phase with a not-quite-significant-other, and not necessarily expecting to have found someone to spend their lives with.
Dating isn't about finding someone that we want to marry, have a bunch of kids with, and stay with until our hair turns grey -- dating is about good company, feeling good, and enjoying ourselves while we're young - and nowadays, dating starts younger and younger. Moreover, we as a culture seem to like our casual dating scene - it's freeing, it's empowering, and it makes us feel good about ourselves.

Doesn't it?


We can say what we want about casual relationships and breakups - we can say that we're great at picking ourselves up and moving on. The constant makeups, breakups, and hookups, however, are probably not the way nature and evolution had meant for us to function socially. Breaking up with a significant other, constantly lacking security in a relationship, or simply not having things work out are undeniably stressful experiences, and there is no weakness in admitting that. These stressful situations, as it turns out, cause more harm to you than a simple heartache that can be drowned out by a couple of drinks or a pint of ice cream.
Stressful situations stimulate the secretion of adrenaline in the body - and while adrenaline is something we have probably heard of, we probably do not think about the repercussions of constantly being in a state of physiological "fight or flight." Also closely linked to adrenaline is the hormone cortisol, which is produced in response to stress. Some of cortisol's functions include increasing blood sugar and reducing the activity of the immune system. So what are some specific effects of stress, specifically related to dating, breakups, and relationship issues? Here are a few:

- High Blood Pressure
This one is probably one of the more common-sense effects of stress, so I won't spend a great deal of time on it except to point out that hypertension, strokes, and heart attacks are pervasive health issues attributed to our high-stress lifestyle in which relationships play a large part.

- Stomach Issues
One of the functions of adrenaline is to divert blood away from the digestive system and towards the heart, lungs, and skeletal muscles - so it is possible that the compulsion to drown our sorrows in junk food could sprout from the fact that we are not digesting properly and the cravings are our body's way of pushing us to compensate. Other possible problems also include constipation and ulcers.

- Early Puberty
Some research now indicates that one of the plausible causes of the earlier onsets of puberty, and menstruation in young woman, may be attributed to environmental stress. It is not a stretch to believe that a great deal of this stress may come from the fact that young girls are pressured concerning themselves with dating and the opposite sex at an earlier age. Early menarche (first menstruation) is one of the prominent risk factors for breast cancer, and early puberty is also perceived as a risk factor for prostate cancer in males.

- Suffering Sex Life
It almost seems counterintuitive that free and casual dating style may actually hinder our sex lives, but stress the effects of adrenaline actually make sexual arousal more difficult to attain. In order to send blood to more vital organs, adrenaline directs blood away from other areas, including the sex organs, which could lead to a loss of libido, and in males, the failure to attain or maintain erections.

Based on the results of a study by the American Psychological Association just last year, approximately two-thirds of all American adults suffer from some form on diagnosed chronic stress disorder, and countless others most likely go undiagnosed. Our approach to dating and the constant barrage of makeups and breakups and the fact that adolescents are exposing ourselves to the stress of dating at even earlier ages, unfortunately, may only make these numbers rise in the years to come.