We still want our mum when we are ill

No matter how old our children get, mum is the one they want to turn to the most when they are ill.

One in five adults aged 25-45 years of age still ask their mother’s advice when they are poorly, with 66 per cent wanting her to take care of them.

According to research by Lockets, the best advice mothers offered was to make sure hands are washed, not to go out with wet hair and don’t burn the candle at both ends.

Professor of Organisational Psychology and Health, Professor Cary Cooper CBE says: “This is a psychological phenomenon where people regress to their childhood by going back to their parents when ill. Most want their mum to look after them, regardless of gender. Men might re-create a mother figure with their female partner, but I suspect that you will rarely get a mature woman who shares their illness with a male partner, as they tend to be less sympathetic and nurturing.”