Contrary to popular belief, distance likely does not make the heart grow fonder. In fact, studies have recently been completed that reveal that geographical distance between adult romantic partners likely stresses the heart. And, not in a good way – not like the stress of a good workout.
After much anecdotal evidence showed that long-term separation from a romantic partner can lead to increased anxiety and depression as well as sleep disturbances, a physiological study on male prairie voles was carried out. All it took was a four-day separation before the voles exhibited signs of anxiety and depression. They also showed increased levels of corticosterone (like the human stress hormone, cortisol). Separation from siblings did not have the same effect. It appears that the effects of mate separation resemble the physiological effects of drug withdrawal: irritability, sleep disturbances, increased cortisol levels.
Some adults suffer acutely when separated from spouses or romantic partners and don’t require a four-day separation to start feeling depressed, anxious, or both. Adult Separation Anxiety Disorder is very real and estimates are that it affects about 15 to 20 percent of the population. It usually onsets during the early years of adulthood and normally arises from unresolved separation anxiety or trauma-induced separation anxiety during the very early years of childhood. For most young sufferers, this anxiety disappears during the middle to later childhood and the teenage years, never to return. For some though, it can rear its ugly head again in the twenties or thirties as overwhelming feelings of dread and panic overtake when separation – even for a relatively short time – occurs. Without treatment, it can become a life-long condition.
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