A study entitled The Influence of Divorce on Men’s Health was recently released by the Journal of Men’s Health gives some good insight on how divorce affects men. Simply put, divorce does a number on men’s health. The abstract says it all: “Getting divorced directly and indirectly affects men’s biological, psychological, social, and even spiritual health. For example, divorced men have higher rates of mortality, substance abuse, depression, and lack of social support.”
Some specific findings from the study are very interesting:
- Divorced men have mortality rates much higher than married men, even as much as 250% higher than married men. Some contributing factors to higher mortality rates include cardiovascular disease, hypertension, stroke, and substance abuse.
- Divorced men have many more health problems than married men including colds, cancer, heart attacks, etc. Married men have more positive health habits including regular checkups and following health regimens.
- Divorced men have lower levels of happiness and suffer more from substance abuse, anxiety, and mood disorders. Additionally, depression runs through divorced men more often than married men. At the same time, married men who suffer from depression who then divorce show signs of improvement in that their depression alleviates.
- Men who are divorced tend to suffer more from losing relationships or having current relationships weakened.
- Married men also have better and more frequent sexual relations than divorce men.
Ultimately, divorce is bad for men’s health. Perhaps that may be a reason why so many divorcees remarry. Maybe there is something innate that convinces them they need to remarry, something their biological and psychological faculties are telling them.
If you are a Utah man going through a divorce the last thing you need is an extremely stressful divorce process. The stress and health problems that comes after you are divorced are enough. Let us help your divorce go as smoothly as possible. Call us at 801.618.1331 for a free divorce consultation.
