Wearing Your Boyfriend’s Clothes Is Officially Good For Your Mental Health

Every girl knows that one of the biggest perks of having a boyfriend is the ability to steal their big, comfortable clothing. From hoodies to sweatpants and all the in-between, wearing something that belongs to “our man” makes us feel almost as though we’re closer to them—especially when they’re not around. Turns out, stealing our boyfriend’s clothes is better than we thought. In fact, it’s actually good for your mental health.

According to a study released by the University of British Colombia, it’s proven that wearing your boyfriend’s clothing can actually boost your mood and attitude overall. The study was conducted with 96 heterosexual couples who were asked to participate. As the control element, men were asked to wear a new t-shirt for 24 hours without using any deodorant, cologne, or any other scent additives. After the shirts gained a certain person’s scent, they were frozen to keep that scent locked in for a longer period of time.

After they were frozen, women were asked to wear a shirt. Some women happened to be matched with shirts that were not their partner’s—so, a total stranger. As it turns out, everything has to do with scent. The women who wore their partner’s shirt with his scent experienced lower levels of cortisol in their brain—the hormone that contributes to stress. Therefore, the women who wore their boyfriend’s clothing were much more zen and relaxed.

However, women who were wearing a complete stranger’s shirt happened to experience a change in their cortisol levels, too—they peaked. So, basically, wearing a stranger’s clothing made them much more stressed than before. Strange, yet, interesting.

The study’s lead author, Marlise Hofer, said in a statement:

“Many people wear their partner’s shirt or sleep on their partner’s side of the bed when their partner is away, but may not realize why they engage in these behaviors. Our findings suggest that a partner’s scent alone, even without their physical presence, can be a powerful tool to help reduce stress.”

So, if you happen to be someone who enjoys wearing your partner’s clothing, and they tell you to stop—just tell them that you’re doing it to make you a more enjoyable girlfriend. The less stressed you are, the more you are able to enjoy life and, overall, be in a way better mood. Therefore, keep the hoodie (or the shirt, socks, pants, etc). It’s good for you! 

 

Study Claims That Spending Time With Your Mother Can Make Her Live Longer

It’s no secret that the relationship we have with our mother is special and unique. Whether we like it or not, she is the woman who brought us into this world. For me, personally, my mom is my very best friend. She’s my anchor, my safety net, and my soundboard whenever life gets hard. No matter what, she will always be there for me.

But, as I’ve gotten older and moved out, I’ve somehow spent less and less time with my mom. It’s hard to always find the time to see each other and hang out when we both work full-time and live in two different neighborhoods. While we speak on the phone every day, there’s nothing that’s quite like spending some quality time together. And, according to a scientific study, spending more time with your mother can help her live longer. 

In 2012, the study was published in the JAMA Internal Medicine and indicated that spending more time with your mother increases her lifespan slightly. The study said that loneliness is a significant factor in why older people die earlier. Loneliness in adults leads to increased depression and other health problems.

How did they discover this? Well, the study looked at 1,600 adults—with the average age of 71-years-old. They found that 23% of people who participated in the study who were lonely ended up dying within 6 years of being apart of the study. Only 14% of those who said they were not lonely died during the same 6 year period.

Basically, keeping your mom’s social life active, positive, and booming can allow her to escape the death grip of loneliness. And, if you can’t see her all of the time, at least try to call her once or twice a day and, possibly, see her once a week. You never know how much you can impact her life!

 

Study Reveals Which Day Your Partner Is Most Likely To Cheat

While it’d be great to be able to trust our partners implicitly and feel certain that they’ll be faithful to us, the truth is that people cheat. Whether because they’re feeling neglected in the relationship or they’re just plain a-holes (the more likely answer), a new study has revealed the day of the week it’s most likely to happen.

1. The UK website Illicit Encounters is behind the research.

They were interested in what makes cheaters cheat and how they go about doing it—makes sense since the site itself hooks up people who are already in relationships. They talked to 1,000 users about their preferences when being unfaithful and the results were interesting if not infuriating.

2. It’s all about the weekend.

That’s right—Friday nights are a cheater’s paradise. Christian Grant, a spokesperson for Illicit Encounters, told Women’s Health Australia that if your partner regularly heads out on the town on Friday nights without you, there may be a problem. “If your partner regularly goes out with work colleagues on a Friday night, this should raise suspicions, particularly if they always go out with you the following night. The Saturday night date is partly due to guilt over the Friday night liaison,” he explained.

3. A lot of cheaters meet at a gym.

A whopping 30% of users said they hooked up with people they met while working out, while 26% found someone to hook up with at work social events. Only 17% of cheaters met someone on social media, which is a somewhat shockingly low number, right?

4. More cheaters meet through common hobbies/interests rather than random encounters at a bar or club.

While one-night stands with someone you met down at your local bar is pretty much legendary in movies and on TV, it’s not all that common in real life. The study revealed that most people had something in common with the people they cheated with rather than just sleeping with someone based on physical appearance (or drunkenness) alone.

5. At the end of the day, communication is key.

If you’re seriously concerned about your partner’s fidelity, the best advice is to simply talk to them. If you don’t feel like you can bring up this topic without it causing strain, an argument, or even a breakup, then there’s obviously a serious problem in your relationship whether they’re cheating on you or not.

This article originally appeared on Bolde.

Tumblr User Brilliantly Explains Why Men Need Emotional Support In Relationships Just As Much As Women

In society, there’s an unspoken norm that in relationships it’s women who need emotional support and encouragement, not men. Often, people believe women are the ones who need to be complimented, loved, surprised, and nurtured–and men just get by on their own, happy to just be there.
Continue reading Tumblr User Brilliantly Explains Why Men Need Emotional Support In Relationships Just As Much As Women

If You Were Born Between 1977-1985, You’re Not A ‘Millennial’ Anymore, You’re A ‘Xennial’

Millennials get a bad rap for being entitled, lazy, immature, obsessed with selfies and social media, and so on. They’re associated with the rise of the internet and smartphones and resulting cultural outcroppings of these technological advancements. But generational distinctions are imprecise and subject to debate, and what we typically consider to be Millennials actually contains a subsection of somewhat older Millennials that are culturally distinct from their younger brethren.

Sandwiched between Gen-Xers and Millennials, ‘Xennials’ are typically classified as those being born between 1977 and 1985. They’re a microgeneration that copes with the clash between Gen-X’s cynicism and Millennial optimism.

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Millennials were born between 1981 and 1996 and Gen-Xers were born between 1965 and 1980. The term ‘Xennial’ to describe the generation on the cusp of the two first appeared in GOOD magazine as a way to define the older Millennials who shared a different experience than the rest of the generation growing up.

According to Notable Life,

The term is a solution to recent complaints by “mature millennials” that they don’t feel as though they fit the avocado-eating, Snapchat-loving mold of the endlessly dissected generation — but also don’t really remember the first Star Wars movies.

Xennials had an analog childhood before riding the digital wave into the 21st century. Xennials were fully aware of the shifting technological landscape, going from a time when the internet didn’t exist, to suffering through the dial-up era, to embracing the latest social media platforms. They were also in early adulthood during the September 11th terrorist attacks, while many Millennials were still in elementary and high school.

Xennials are also called “the Oregon Trail Generation” because of how widespread the educational game was in the “cutting-edge” computer labs they had in elementary and high school.

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There are plenty of things Xennials remember that are just fuzzy memories to Millennials. Things like pay phones, landlines, and sitting through countless 1-800-COLLECT commercials.

The landline wars were intense until cell phones came along, and Xennials remember having to talk to their friends’ parents on the phone before reaching their friends. Call waiting and extra phone lines were godsends for the Xennial generation.

And watching Jurassic Park in theaters and memorizing Clueless.

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Mean Girls may be the defining women’s movie for Millennials, but Xennial women grew up watching Clueless on repeat at slumber parties. And the cutting-edge computer-generated dinosaurs in Jurassic Park were truly revolutionary on the big screen. Goonies, Heathers and Dazed And Confused were also seminal Xennial coming-of-age movies.

Being a little too old for Pokémon and Neopets.

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These pop culture phenomena took off a little too late to get Xennials on board.

Getting that first clunky cell phone in their teens or 20s that was “for emergencies.”

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Ah, those indestructible Nokia phones! Before Temple Run and Candy Crush, Xennials killed time by trying to beat their high score on Snake.

Coping with T9 texting was a real struggle for Xennials.

Sure, Millennials are the generation that turned texting into an artform, but Xennials were the pioneers who had to really work to make texting happen.

And connecting with friends on AIM changed Xennial social life.

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Online chat application like AOL’s Instant Messenger and ICQ allowed young Xennials to socialize online for the first time.

Looking things up in encyclopedias, and later, Encarta is an experience every Xennial remembers.

Xennials went to school before web-based reference sources like Wikipedia, and many still remember having to use the card catalog at the library.

And the hole in the ozone layer and acid rain were the most critical environmental threats.

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Before global warming reached a boiling point, acid rain and the hole in the ozone layer were some of the biggest man-made threats to life on earth.

Xennials will remember when this was the hottest boy band around.

Xennials loved Back Street Boys and N’Sync, but the New Kids On The Block were the original boy band.

And trying to hit “record” at the exact right time to snag the song of the moment off of the radio to make your crush that mixtape was a Xennial thing.

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Well before MP3s became a thing, CDs were a welcome change for Xennials, who grew up with cassettes and top-40 radio stations that had actual human DJs.

Also MTV showed mostly music videos.

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Today, MTV hosts a raft of original programming, but Xennials remember a time when you could tune in to MTV and either see a music video or a VJ introducing one.

And the O.J. Simpson Bronco chase and double murder trial divided America on racial lines.

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It was called the “Trial Of The Century” and helped launch the Kardashian’s father to fame (or infamy). News coverage of the double murder trial was non-stop and his acquittal rocked the nation.

Xennials also remember when Columbine was the first and only shocking school shooting.

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Long before the current epidemic of gun violence plaguing U.S. schools, the mass shooting at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado shocked the country. Ask a Xennial and they can probably tell you where they were when they heard the news.

Only the Right Guy Will Have the Patience to Restore Her Faith in Love

The Right Guy Will Be Patient

To the Right Guy

My heart has been shattered into a million pieces. So please take a step back before getting mad that I am not being “vulnerable” or not trusting you. My walls are built up high for a reason. I am protective, but I have my reasons. Every time I trust even a bit, my heart gets broken.

I have high hopes that the future will be different. That just maybe, one day, I will let my walls down to the right person. I will finally be treated right, so I can be vulnerable with someone that is worthy.

Walls So High

There is always this thought in my mind that maybe if I build up my walls high enough, only the right person will take the time to break the walls down and love me the right way. And I keep hoping that prince charming will come along. With the patience to stand by me and gain my trust.

I Am Broken

I know not everyone has that patience.I am broken and it makes it difficult to love me. But I didn’t choose to get hurt, so if I can choose for it to not happen again that is a choice I am going to make.

Patience Is Key

If someone has the time and patience to gain my trust and heal my pain, that will be a love that is worth it. That is worth the time and the effort. Worth being vulnerable to.

Ready To Love Again

I am ready to love again. But I am hesitant. And I have been drowned time and time again, so I am finally coming up for a breath of fresh air. I want to breathe again, but I am not ready to be drown again. So I need to catch a break and take a breath.

Fear Of Heartbreak

The thought of getting hurt again, paralyzes me with fear. I am not ready to be broken again. Those are dark days I don’t want to revisit. My mind is caught between wanting to love again and not wanting to get the repercussions of the vulnerability.

Love Me Tender

I want the type of love that gives away my whole heart. But I just need time. And I need patience. I am still hurting from the past, And I can’t jump into the future right now. So stay in the present with me. Prove to me that you are worth the chance.

This love won’t be easy, but I promise it will be worth it. I need this to work, I need you to help me believe in love again. Hold me tight and keep promising me that you aren’t like the rest. Stick around long enough that you gain my trust. I really need you to not be like the rest.

Because  am not perfect. But if you can see past my imperfections and have faith in us, we could make this work. I want to be the reason you smile when you wake up. And the reason you laugh at your phone when I send you a cute text. I want to be your drinking partner and your best friend. And I want this to work.

So if you are crazy enough to stand by my side through all of this, I will try my hardest to trust again. Iknow I can be hard to love, but I need this to work. Remind me I was once so vulnerable.Remind me what real love feels like.

I’m So Blessed to Have a Father Like You

My Father Is Amazing And I Am Lucky

 

You always used to tell me, that from the first moment I looked up into your proud eyes on the day I was born, you knew that I was something special. Something just clicked, and we became two peas of a pod.

Since then, it has been one of the biggest honors of my life to be a part of a father-daughter relationship that grew into an irreplaceable friendship.

Our Bond

Our bond is founded on the principles that you’ve taught me: selflessness, compassion, and persistence.

Growing up, you sacrificed everything for our family without even blinking. You were always willing to do whatever it took to make sure we had everything we needed. You wanted to give us the happiest childhood you could, and that meant working extra hard to tackle problems as they came along.

You always said you wanted us to enjoy being a kid and to leave the grown up stuff to you. And, I never fully appreciated that until I grew up and saw how much stress and heartbreak goes on in the real world.

And while you did your best to shield us from it, there were always times that we got glimpses of hard times and heart break. But, even this was a chance for you to teach us a lesson about life.

You showed me how to face adversity with grace and to never let failure be permanent.

To this day, you are the first person I turn to for advice. You’re the voice of reason and the one that helps center me when I feel like it’s all too much to handle.

 

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