Does Divorce and Depression Go Hand in Hand

Faye B. Reports

The stereotype that a man relishes trading his wife for a fast car or a younger woman has proven to be erroneous. In actual fact a new study has found that men appear to take separation much harder than women and divorce and depression seem to have a relationship in both men and women.

Both men and women have a higher risk of being depressed when they get divorced as compared to people who remain with their spouses, but men who are divorced or separated are six times more likely to report depression compared with men who remained married, while women are 3.5 times more likely to have bouts of depression than their counterparts who are still in relationships.

Michelle Rotermann, the author of the study, said she was surprised and also not surprised by the results. "On the one hand we know depression in general tends to be more common among women, but there is also a lot of evidence that shows that men have fewer social supports, and social supports do play an important part in the healing process".

There are other factors that accompany the end of a relationship that may also contribute to the experience of depression, such as life style changes, economic difficulties or changes in the number of children living in the home. The study did find however that such changes were not enough to account for depression levels, which remained higher even after the other possible factors were taken into consideration. The dissolution of the relationship remained the highest factor causing depression.

Depression enters quietly, grabs a firm hold, and changes the way we live our lives. A dark cloud of grief and obscurity settles in robbing us of all our joys, and life seems to have lost its meaning. Depression comes in the form of painful crisis when it comes to divorce and loss of your partner. Many feelings like grief, rejection, anger, hatred, pain, feeling of being left behind, loneliness and above all a broken heart can destabilize you completely. There is nothing that can quickly take your pain away. One has to work through to come out of this pain and bring about the real healing.

Getting a divorce causes grief very much like the grief experienced when a loved one dies. The emotions are similar and follow a like pattern including the associated depression. The best news is that depression can be cured. Discuss your divorce and depression with your doctor and together you can find the best treatment options.
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