This is just what we needed: now they even have a scientific excuse for destroying our brains. Little by little.

Women not trying to express verbally during marital discussions seem to present a four times higher risk of dying, because this can make them more vulnerable to depression and irritable bowel syndrome, as found by a new research.

"We don't really know why women self-silence. It may be some type of protection mechanism. Experts believe such "self- silencing" during conflict may have provided an evolutionary survival advantage long ago, but not now. Over a ten-year period, women who self-silenced were four times more likely to die than women who expressed themselves freely during marital arguments," said lead researcher Dr Elaine Eaker.

"Girls learn more 'relational forms' of aggression. Girls tell other girls, 'I won't play with you if you play with her. Boys on the other hand are taught to express their anger openly. As a result, some women are afraid of the consequences of showing anger during quarrels with their husbands. For some women, it's because of the threat of physical violence, but for others, there is a fear that if they speak up, their husbands will leave and their financial security will go out the door with them. So anger builds up and, like stress, it can damage the heart," said psychologist Dana Jack from the Fairhaven College of Interdisciplinary Studies at Western Washington University.

This is the first research connecting behavior, heart disease and mortality inside marriage. The research was made on 3,682 men and women, the majority aged 40 to 60 at the beginning of the 10-year study.

Also, the reverse was valid: men whose wives returned home from work stressed about their jobs were 2.7 times more vulnerable to heart disease than those whose wives had a less stressful job. It appears that a wife's work-related problems are a factor that increases their husband's stress because he cannot "protect" her.

The study also confirmed that solitary men were two times more likely to die, compared to married men.