A divorce can be positive and negative for a number of reasons. On one hand, divorce is difficult, expensive, heart wrenching, and a lot of work. But, on the other, it’s your second chance, it’s getting you out of an unhappy situation, and you get to start over. As you can see, there’s a lot of conflicting feelings when it comes to divorce. For that reason, many people might put it off or avoid it altogether. However, what you might not realize is that a bad marriage can seriously damage your health and wellbeing. People in good marriages tend to live longer, healthier lives. However, being in a marriage that is inherently negative, leads to negative side effects…
Bad Marriage? It Could be Damaging your Health…
You might not think too much about it, but being in a stressful situation for years at a time can lead to a lot of negative outcomes. From bad habits you pick up, to constant stress, trouble sleeping, a lack of appetite, and so forth— there’s a lot of bad that comes from a bad marriage.
Conflict in a relationship can lead to damaging physiological responses within the body
The Wiley Online Library shares a study done in 2010 that examines how health and marriage go hand in hand. In their study, it was found that people in a strong marriage experience a longer lifetime, among other positive things. On the flip side, those who were either divorced, widowed, or in a bad marriage were more likely to develop conflict in terms of bad health, and negative health behaviors; such as frequent drinking and smoking. All of those stressors, arguments, and hostility can affect a number of things. Some examples of those things would be the immune system, heart function, and ‘increased release of stress hormones’, among other things. So, in short, a bad marriage can be worse for you than a divorce can be.
In summary, a divorce is not worse for you than ‘sticking it out’ in a bad marriage
Think of getting a divorce, in a bad marriage, as something that could be potentially good for your health. Sure, it’s temporarily stressful. However, it could save your life in the long run. No one wants their marriage to go down the drain, but letting your health do the same is arguably worse. So, if you find yourself contemplating the end of a negative marriage experience, consider the positives of doing so— for the both of you.
