Divorce, like cheeseburgers, not recommended for your health
Aug 6th, 2009 by admin
This recently story in the New York Times describes the physical health
impact of going from being married to being single (whether by divorce or a spouse’s death). Similar to some German research I heard about years ago, the impact of the loss of a spouse is one that lingers. And, apparently, it’s the loss of the spouse rather than the absence: Never married middle-aged people have fewer chronic health problems than divorced or widowed people of the same age.
Admittedly, what the study cited in the story shows is correlation between chronic (stress-related) health problems and divorce or widowhood. Because the effect is showing up in both groups, though, researchers believe a causal relationship to be likely.
The punchline: To paraphrase the author of much of this research, if you’re in a marriage you can’t fix, get out of it. If you’re in a marriage you can fix, you’ll be better in the long run if you make the effort. How do you know if you can fix a marriage? See some of my older posts on folks who claim to be able to predict whether a marriage will last.