Spending time with a difficult person can impact your mood in the moment. But over time, these challenging social interactions might also have a detrimental effect on your physical health, possibly making you age faster, new research suggests.
The study, which was funded by the National Institute on Aging and published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, looked at the health impacts of “hasslers” — people the researchers defined as those “who create problems or make life more difficult.”
While positive relationships have long been linked to healthier, longer lives, hasslers seem to have the opposite effect, increasing chronic stress and elevating epigenetic biomarkers associated with aging. The study also found that some people are more likely to report knowing hasslers, including women and those in poorer health.