As many Chicago residents are likely aware, divorce can be emotionally trying. However, the emotional challenges that many experience in bad marriages may be worse. Almost no good marriage ever ends in divorce. Divorce most often happens to couples in bad marriages, when they realize that their differences are irreconcilable and the marriage is beyond repair. For some, divorce can be a freeing experience that can allow divorcees to begin a new life without the stresses that come with remaining in a broken marriage.
One study proves that bad marriages are not good for one’s health or well-being. According to researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, stressful marriages may be linked to depression. The researchers conducted a study in which 116 married adults completed questionnaires that included questions involving marital stress. They were asked questions involving matters such as how often their spouse proved to be a source of tension. Then, these participants — about half male and half female — were examined for depression symptoms.
Around nine months after the initial questionnaires were filled out, they were again analyzed for depression and marital stress. Two years after that, the participants were summoned to a lab for an “emotional response test.” They were asked to look at 90 images on a computer screen while researchers gauged their emotional reactions.
What researchers were able to determine from the emotional response test is that those who had undergone chronic stress in their marriages experienced more difficulties responding to pictures considered to be positive stimuli. This is, according to researchers, a sign that a person may be depressed. One of the doctors who worked on the study claimed that these are important findings, as the link between marital stress and depression is not necessarily an obvious one.
Couples generally know when they have reached the end of a marriage and it is time to divorce. While nothing may be done to erase the marital stress that these couples have endured, it is sometimes possible to reduce the stress in divorce by ensuring that every decision in the process is expertly informed.
Source: Huffington Post, “Stressful Marriages Linked To Depression In New Study,” Taryn Hillin, April 28, 2014
