No marriage is perfect, right? Well, that may be true, but there’s a big difference between a marriage that occasionally hits a rough patch and a marriage that’s just not working.
For one thing, a bad marriage could be slowly ruining your health.
Major marital disagreements can lead to serious health problems
The mind-body connection between happiness and health isn’t exactly unknown, but you may not realize just how clearly studies have linked them.
For example, researchers have discovered that high-conflict marriages can lead to:
- Inflammatory conditions
- Changes in appetite
- Increased production of stress hormones
- Increased smoking and drinking
- Anxiety and trouble sleeping
- Headaches
- Depression
People in unhappy relationships even have a harder time healing from simple wounds than people in happy relationships. They’re also more likely to suffer from physiological changes that are associated with everything from arthritis and diabetes to cancer.
The problems are compounded because these negative health conditions associated with a high-conflict marriage all have additional negative consequences of their own. Stress, inflammation, appetite changes, smoking and drinking, for example, can all lead to problems like heart disease, kidney problems and more.
You don’t have to let an unhappy marriage drain you
What does all this mean? Essentially, just this: You can’t afford to ignore the situation when your marriage is dysfunctional. The temporary stress of a divorce is definitely less harmful than the long-term consequences of stress from an unhappy marriage.
If you’re ready to take the leap and get a divorce, it may be time to speak with an attorney. You can learn more about the divorce process and get answers to your most pressing questions.
