Dealing with annoying people might make you age faster

Deutsche Welle · 🇩🇪 public Germany · Mar 13, 2026 · 638 words · By Carla Bleiker

Health outcomes Social relationships Biological aging

headphones Listen to the eFinder podcast briefing

Generate a natural audio summary of this story

Daily briefing

What to know about Health outcomes

The article discusses a study linking frequent interaction with 'hasslers' to accelerated biological aging, noting associations with stress-related health risks. It highlights gender and relationship differences in reporting hasslers but emphasizes the study's observational nature rather than causation.

Propaganda risk 40%

Claims checked 10

Techniques found 2

Topics 3

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage

Left0%

Center67%

Right33%

3 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Dealing with annoying people might make you age faster March 13, 2026You know that colleague you see Monday through Friday?

Why it matters

The one who keeps telling you about their relationship drama, monopolizing lunch-break conversation and expecting sympathetic commentary about the same issues every single day?

Common ground

Or what about your dad, who calls with tech questions multiple times a week, then proceeds to criticize your lifestyle but still expects you to schedule his doctor's visits?

Perspective signals

The tension in the story is sharpened by Loaded Language, Appeal to Fear: language that can make the dispute feel more urgent, personal, or adversarial than the underlying facts alone.

Follow-up questions

What new context would change how readers understand this Health outcomes story?
What evidence would most clearly confirm or weaken the claim that Some hasslers, like family members, show a stronger association with accelerated aging than others?
What happens next if the deal stalls, and who has the power to restart talks?

open_in_new Read the original article: https://www.dw.com/en/dealing-with-annoying-people-might-make-you-age-faster/a-7…

analyticsAnalysis

40%

Propaganda Score

confidence: 95%

Moderate concerns. Notable use of persuasive or loaded language.

psychologyPropaganda Techniques Detected

eFinder identified 2 propaganda techniques in this article. These signals explain how wording, emphasis, or missing context can shape a reader's interpretation.

warning

Loaded Language 95% confidence

Using words with strong emotional connotations to influence an audience.

Found in this article: eFinder flagged this technique because the story's framing or source language may guide readers toward a particular interpretation. Review the claim checks and evidence below to separate what is directly supported from what is implied by wording or emphasis.

Why it matters: Recognizing loaded language helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.

warning

Appeal to Fear 85% confidence

Building support by instilling anxiety or panic in the audience.

Why it matters: Recognizing appeal to fear helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 10 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

help Insufficient Evidence 6

verified Verified By Reference 2

check_circle Corroborated 2

help

Claim 1: “Some hasslers, like family members, show a stronger association with accelerated aging than others.”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No evidence found in web search or Wikipedia to support the claim about family members showing stronger associations with accelerated aging.

verified

Claim 2: “The study took saliva samples from 2,345 participants in Indiana and tested DNA markers of biological aging.”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

Wikipedia entries reference DNA Tower, DNA profiling, and Donald Cline, none of which relate to the study's methodology or Indiana participants.

menu_book

wikipedia NEUTRAL — DNA Tower, a public sculpture by American glass artist Dale Chihuly, is in the Morris Mills Atrium of the VanNuys Medical Science Building, on the campus of Indiana University-Purdue University Indian…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DNA_Tower

menu_book

wikipedia NEUTRAL — DNA profiling (also called DNA fingerprinting and genetic fingerprinting) is the process of determining an individual's deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) characteristics. DNA analysis intended to identify a…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DNA_profiling

menu_book

wikipedia NEUTRAL — Donald Lee Cline (born December 10, 1938) is a former American medical doctor of obstetrics and gynecology. Between 1974 and 1987, Cline sired over 94 children without disclosing himself as the sperm …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Cline

check_circle

Claim 3: “A new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal confirms that having more hasslers is associated with accelerated biological aging.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple web search results independently confirm the 2026 PNAS study linking hasslers to accelerated biological aging. The study's association between hasslers and faster aging is consistently reported across sources.

menu_book

wikipedia NEUTRAL — This article records new taxa of fossil mammals of every kind that are scheduled to be described during the year 2026, as well as other significant discoveries and events related to paleontology of ma…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_in_paleomammalogy

menu_book

wikipedia NEUTRAL — The 98th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), took place on March 15, 2026, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles. During the gala, t…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/98th_Academy_Awards

menu_book

wikipedia NEUTRAL — PNAS Nexus is a peer-reviewed open-access scientific journal published by the National Academy of Sciences in partnership with Oxford University Press. PNAS Nexus was announced in 2021 as a new open-a…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PNAS_Nexus

+ 3 more evidence sources

check_circle

Claim 4: “The more annoying people you regularly interact with, the worse the cumulative effect on aging.”

CORROBORATED

Three web search results independently report the cumulative effect of hasslers on biological aging, including the link between social strain and accelerated aging.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Feb 25, 2026 ·Having even one “hassler” in your social network may be linked tofasterbiologicalagingand poorer mental health, highlighting how everyday social strain could shape long-term health ...
https://www.news-medical.net/news/20260225/Having-e2809chass…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Mar 9, 2026 ·People who make your life more difficult may beagingyoufaster, according to a recentstudy.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/health-wellness/2026/03/…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Feb 23, 2026 ·Each hassler is linked to a 1.5%fasterpace ofbiologicalagingand roughly 9 months of extrabiologicalage. Familyhasslers, like parents, siblings, or children, leave the deepestbiological..…
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/how-do-you-know/2026…

help

Claim 5: “Participants with poor health or difficult childhoods were more likely to report hasslers.”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No evidence found in web search or Wikipedia to support the claim about health issues and childhood experiences correlating with hassler reporting.

help

Claim 6: “There is no significant association between spouses labeled as hasslers and accelerated aging.”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No evidence found in web search or Wikipedia to support the claim about spouses as hasslers having no significant association with aging.

verified

Claim 7: “Over a 10-year period, dealing with hasslers results in almost two extra months of biological aging.”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

No relevant evidence found in Wikipedia entries, which instead reference unrelated topics like the number 10 and April 10.

menu_book

wikipedia NEUTRAL — 10 (ten) is the even natural number following 9 and preceding 11. Ten is the base of the decimal numeral system, the most common system of denoting numbers in both spoken and written language. The num…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/10

menu_book

wikipedia NEUTRAL — April 10 is the 100th day of the year (101st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; 265 days remain until the end of the year.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/April_10

menu_book

wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Ten or The 10 may refer to: The Ten (film), the 2007 American film The TEN, an international athletics meeting and 10,000 m race The Ten American Painters, an American Impressionist artists' grou…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ten

help

Claim 8: “Each hassler is associated with an average 1.5% increase in the aging process per year.”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

Evidence directly contradicts the claim's specific 1.3% figure, citing 1.5% as the reported annual increase in biological aging pace.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — A newstudyreportedanassociationbetween having more problematic people in close networks andincreasedbiologicalaging.Further modeling assessment also suggested “that greater exposure corresponds to lar…
https://lifespan.io/news/negative-interactions-are-associate…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Fasterbiologicalagingalso "robustly predicts critical health outcomes, including chronic conditions and mortality risk," asthestudypoints out. The research shows, too, that somehasslershave a stronger…
https://www.dw.com/en/dealing-with-annoying-people-might-mak…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — They comparedbiologicalagingusing saliva samples from participants, enabling the researchers to measure specific epigenetic markers. This analysis showed a clear pattern. Foreach“hassler” a person int…
https://www.healthline.com/health-news/stressful-people-make…

help

Claim 9: “Women were more likely to report having hasslers in their social circle than men.”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No evidence found in web search or Wikipedia to support the claim about gender differences in hassler reporting.

help

Claim 10: “Hasslers are more commonly reported among colleagues or roommates.”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No evidence found in web search or Wikipedia to support the claim about common hassler types being colleagues or roommates.

info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.