Divorce lawyers usually tell clients that the process will be hard, but few will really give you a sobering look at the post-divorce fallout, which includes the impact on your physical and mental health.

At the DADvocacy™ Law Firm, we take the “informed consent” approach to divorce: while we can support your decision to open a new chapter in your life, it’s important to grasp both the potentially positive and negative results.

Divorce clients usually expect to encounter some steep financial and lifestyle changes, but men without life partners may face an array of physical and mental health challenges as well, according to Psychology Today :

[A] large-scale U.S. study found that unmarried men aged 40-60 were 3.5 times more likely to die by suicide compared to both similarly-aged married men and unmarried women. Similarly, another large U.S. study found that unmarried men aged 40-75 years had a 2-fold risk of suicide compared to married men of the same age group.

Additionally, Psychology Today notes that non-partnered men may have “double the rate of depression in single men (3.6 percent) compared to married men (1.7 percent)”, according to another large population study, and they endure “much higher rates of addictions than other demographics including married men and single women.”

Non-partnered men tend to “experience abnormally high rates of loneliness,” which, in turn, increases their risk “for a range of mental health issues including depression, substance abuse, and suicide,” as noted in Personality and Individual Differences.

But for divorced, older men in particular, the single path may be even harder, according to a study in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health: they experience a “higher rate of mental health issues compared to never-married, separated, and widowed men, as well as divorced women.”

Consider the impact on your health and whether you are currently dealing with medical issues. Will you have adequate health insurance after the split?

Before filing, see your doctor to evaluate your overall health picture, and make sure to understand future health costs.

Should you continue your divorce action, in light of these studies’ conclusions? While a divorce may be the right answer for you, it is nonetheless a trauma: it disrupts daily life as you and your children have known it, perhaps for years. Only you know if you gave your all to save the marriage.

If you choose divorce, consider a consultation with a law firm dedicated to father’s rights.

Remember that the DADvocacy™ Law Firm offers resources to you – for free – in our DIY Toolshed. While such resources can never substitute for the services of a licensed attorney, they can help you to familiarize yourself with the legal process.

Warning: All posts on this website contain general information about legal matters for broad educational purposes only. The information is not legal advice and should not be treated as such. This blog post does not create any attorney-client relationship between the reader and the DADvocacy™ Law Firm.