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"  Before I got into my current relationship, I dated (and I use that term loosely) this guy who was pretty ambivalent about me. (I was going to say &amp;quot;our relationship&amp;quot; but that would really be a stretch.) I never knew where I stood\u2014and didn&amp;#039;t want to ask because, deep down, I think I knew what the answer was. (Healthy, right?) So, when I came across a study that found that having major anxiety about your relationship may lower your body&amp;#039;s ability to fight off illness, I wasn&amp;#039;t surprised.. According to researchers at Ohio State University, those who are &amp;quot;anxiously attached&amp;quot; to their partners (as in, they worry about being rejected to a crazy degree and constantly need reassurance that they are loved) produce higher levels of cortisol\u2014a stress hormone\u2014and have fewer T-cells, which help the body fight off infection. Having a lower level of T-cells is associated with an impaired response to vaccines and an aging immune system...both of which aren&amp;#039;t good for the state of your overall well-being.  While I can&amp;#039;t remember if I got sick more often when I dated that aforementioned dude, I sure didn&amp;#039;t feel good the majority of the time. And, when things finally ended, I felt better than I had in months. So, given my story\u2014and these new findings\u2014it might be best to make a break for it if you&amp;#039;re in a relationship that constantly makes you stressed. Not only is it a bad situation for your self-esteem and mental health, it&amp;#039;s bad for your bod, too.  Want more from Natasha? Follow her on Twitter or find her on Facebook. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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