For years, a common belief has been that women tend to be more emotional than men. However, several studies have shown that divorce is harder on men and a broken home tends to affect men more than women!
While there are many reasons divorce is harder on men, one line of thought is that women are more likely to reach out to friends or seek professional help to cope with the divorce. In fact, the husband has much more to lose in terms of both mental and physical health in the case of a divorce than the wife.
But are there any specific reasons behind this? Yes, and some of these reasons include:
Men Have Smaller Support Network
Generally speaking, women are more likely to open up to their close ones and even seek professional help for support. This is certainly a great way to cope with the grief of separating from their partner.
On the other hand, men are known to be more reluctant to openly talk about their emotional condition. They tend to deal with stressful situations without much help. This, on the contrary, is a very unhealthy practice and affects their willingness to move forward and overcome the anguish caused by the said situation.
Men Do Not Take Time to Grieve
Divorce can easily be one of the most stressful events in one’s life. This is understandable, considering that the person you are losing has been a part of your life for a long time in case of a divorce.
Hence, grieving over it is certainly natural. However, unlike women, men do not take the time to actually grieve and, as a result, end up suffering from acute depression and severe anxiety issues.
Men Are More Likely To Develop Health Issues
In most marriages, women usually try to teach healthy behaviors to their spouses, making men more dependent on women in terms of health-related issues. After a divorce, men lack that care, often resulting in alcohol or drug abuse situations.
Most studies also show that divorced men are more susceptible to developing conditions like insomnia, weight loss, anxiety, and depression. This affects men’s lifestyles more, as they try to incorporate more unhealthy habits into their life to cope with their mental issues.
Men Incur Greater Financial Loss
Even though the pay gap between men and women has been declining over time, we still see that the husband is the household breadwinner. After a divorce, men allocate a huge portion of their assets to their ex-wives, which forces them to adapt to different living standards.
Also, in many cases, courts may decide that a pension must be shared, which may seem unfair to men given that the men may have been building up their pension a long way before the marriage started.
Men Are Less Likely To Get Custody Of Children
When it comes to child support attorneys, it has been observed in most cases that the law favors the mother over the father. The father, most times, goes from seeing his children every day to seeing them only a few days a week or even less in order to adhere to the arrangements made by the family lawyer.
As a result, men may feel like they are not a significant part of their children’s lives anymore and feel lonelier and more distraught over time.
Identity Crisis
When it comes to most men, their identity is built around two things; their jobs and their families, and losing either can be utterly devastating for them. Men tend not to view themselves as a part of a partnership, unlike women, who are more likely to pick up new activities and join groups after the dissolution of the marriage.
This is the reason why most men often struggle to adapt to the change in new living arrangements and family dynamics.
Men Develop Trust Issues
Men can often end up developing sentiments such as resentment, anger, and trust issues and carry the same into their future relationships. This is mainly because men are more reluctant to discuss divorce-related issues with any of their future partners.
Many men find the idea of future relations or marriages revolting due to their prior experiences. Some may find it really challenging to take the leap with someone else, even after many years of going through a divorce.
Emotional and Psychological Effects of Divorce
Divorce seems to be a heart-wrenching incident in anyone’s life. There can be a swarm of different effects that separation incurs on men and women.
These effects are sometimes recognizable or non-recognizable according to their severity. If you’re going through this harsh phase of life, you need to know what repercussions it causes for both partners. It majorly causes fluctuations in the mood and mental as well as physical well-being of a person.
Let’s look at how divorce can create changes in the life of couples.
Divorce Stimulates Substance Abuse
Getting trapped in the vicious circle of separation brings a lot of agony and pain. Loneliness, regret, and other such thoughts surround the person, stimulating the usage of substances or drugs to alleviate the pain. Self-medication, including alcohol consumption or drug intake, is quite common as a consequence of divorce.
It Can provoke eating disorders
Getting over a nasty divorce is something everyone needs. The effect of a divorce can trigger various behavioral alterations, including endangering physical health.
One of the many habits that one might develop due to the marriage breakdown is disorder eating patterns. These patterns involve over-eating and under-eating as well.
This stress eating can be fatal and indicates a grave psychological response to stress. Your inclination towards having comfort food while being stressed out can affect your body negatively.
Lowered immunity
We often categorize lowered immunity as the effect of marriage breakdown, creating stress and anxiety, ultimately reducing your normal body functioning.
As a result, it makes the person prone to a higher chance of illness and slower recovery. In addition, the prevailing stress for a prolonged period might lead you to a phase of depression.
Cardiac Arrest and Other Issues
For a long time, experts have linked the risk of heart attack with marriage breakdown. The divorce process tends to create a long-lasting impact on your mental health.
The result may arrive from not taking care of your health and excessive indulgence in unhealthy eating habits. It can boost various medical conditions, including cardiac arrests and other issues that might risk your life.
How To Remain Healthy During the Divorce Tenure?
Pathetic conditions like divorce can profoundly impact your mental and physical well-being. It is paramount you make yourself calm and keep a check on your health.
Broken marriage might cause a sudden rise in unhealthy behaviors and call for motivation to keep yourself aloof from overthinking.
If you can’t do this alone, you should take the assistance of therapists or support groups that help in dealing with these situations.
You may find a lot of nutritionists, dietitians, trainers, and other such specialists who can help you move on and focus on yourself and deal with this excruciating situation harmoniously.
Proper sleep, reduced stress, and high spirits are some of the ways you can help yourself sail through this hard phase.
Concluding Thoughts on Why Divorce is Harder on Men
As you can see, there are many issues that a man has to deal with after going through a divorce. Issues such as depressing experiences of men losing a part of their assets, less interaction with their children, and the general feeling of isolation can be extremely difficult to handle.
That is why it is crucial that men, like women, develop a support network, including a trusted confidant, a mental health professional, and an attorney who understands the hardships men face after the divorce law.
Author’s Bio:
Brad M. Micklin, Esq., is the lead family lawyer Montclair and managing member at The Micklin Law Group, LLC. For more than 22 years, he has helped men through some of the toughest, most emotional experiences in their lives, including child custody battles.