People are learning a lot these days when it comes to psychology. One of the recent findings from University of Arizona finds that poor communication skills are dangerous to your health.

Poor communication skills endanger your health

A recent study discovered that a lack of communication skills in a person could be just as detrimental to health as obesity, smoking, or consumption of a high fat diet with no exercise.

Earlier studies have decried the toll that lacking these competencies takes on mental health. It can cause ailments such as anxiety or depression.

But the study’s creator Chris Segrin, head of the UA Department of Communication for this research, says that lacking communication competencies can cause stress and loneliness.

The research is based on a survey of a nationally representative sample of 775 people, age 18 to 91, who were implored to complete the online survey.

Segrin likens this physiological response to when one cannot find the car keys. The person will look but eventually the problem is resolved. However, unlike any other search, looking for meaningful relationships can bring up these feelings that do not become so quickly dissipated.

Many men are walking around with these health problems that are not being resolved because they are not aware that they are lacking what is necessary to communicate and socialize. These men are simply reaping the consequences without identifying the actual difficulty they are experiencing.

Communication competencies, or social skills, refer to one’s ability to efficiently interact with other people in the ways that are comfortable for them.

The lack of communication causes stress and loneliness.

4 competencies that define your relationships with others

The research focused on 4 main competencies:

1. Capacity to support others emotionally.
2. Ability to share one’s feelings and other information about oneself.
3. The ability to say “No” to unfair appeals.
4. Relationship-building capabilities, which allow people to initiate and develop new connections.

Study participants who had deficits in those skills reported more stress, more loneliness, and poorer overall mental and physical health, Segrin said.

Segrin also notes the silver lining of the discovery of one’s lack of competency—these capabilities can be rectified through therapy and training. He notes that our socialization process begins at birth and continues on. But he also quotes that there is some scientific evidence to suggest that certain behaviours, such as extroversion or anxiety, are partly hereditary.

Segrin hopes that people would get their kids into summer camps or even church groups in order to maximize early interventions into the issues.

Loneliness as harmful as smoking and obesity

What does it mean for me?

Recently we reported that being single can kill you. Scientists alert general public to health dangers of social isolation and advantages of having a stable relationship with a significant other. For already 15 years scientists know that loneliness is a risk factor when it comes to one’s health.

From this point of view, you are losing much more than just time and money when struggling to find love you desire. For instance, getting stuck in PPL dating only exacerbates the problems. Just like using prostitutes is detrimental to finding genuine affection, the paid communication scheme trains you to fail in real-life relations with sincere women.

You could be wasting valuable resources in vain, but it may also shorten your life, if you don’t connect with someone who loves you for you and wants to be with you no matter the circumstances.

Humans are social creatures, even the introverts. If you struggle to find a relationship in a “normal” way (i.e. through family and friends), there are other options available, such as online dating. And there are places in the world where beautiful, intelligent and educated single women are in abundance, such as Eastern Europe. In particular, Russia, Ukraine and Belarus.

You may feel that your communication skills leave a lot to be desired, but if you simply follow the right steps, you will be able to find a woman who seeks a man like you.

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Read also:

• Real profiles, fake communication
• Communication in a foreign language makes people less emotional
• The importance of precise language in communication with foreign women
• How humour helps communication