Please see Part One of the series, Divorce and Men’s Health, in the DADvocacy™ Law Firm’s blog.

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 the potentially positive and negative results before you file.

Divorce lawyers usually tell clients that the process will be challenging. However, few attorneys provide a realistic look at the full spectrum of post-divorce fallout, which may include health consequences that disproportionately affect men, especially those who are remain non-partnered.

Post-divorce life holds gender-marked health hazards, according to a 2022 study. This study is remarkable for its large population; moreover, data was obtained over 26 years.

Dr. Rikke Lund (University of Copenhagen) published this study in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health. Dr. Lund found that men’s health can take a nosedive after divorce: their bodies show higher levels of inflammation. Inflammation affects multiple physiological systems controlling the immune, pulmonary, endocrine and vascular systems, to name a few.

While non-partnered men showed these “higher levels of inflammatory markers,” there was “no such association” found for women in Dr. Lund’s study.

The danger for these men is that “heightened inflammatory levels are associated with increased mortality and morbidity from a number of chronic diseases,” reported Dr. Lund.

After divorce, non-partnered men are more likely than similarly situated women to suffer from loneliness and social isolation (see part one of this post series in the DADvocacy™ Law Firm’s blog), which both act as stressors on the body. Consequently, higher inflammation can act as a gateway to pathology, as documented below:

A large meta-analysis with more than 180,000 participants published in Heart in June 2016 found that individuals who felt isolated, lonely, or both had a 29 percent higher risk of heart attack and a 32 percent higher risk of stroke — about the same increased risk associated with being a light smoker or having obesity.

A study published in 2020 in Diabetologia found that people who felt lonely — whether they lived with someone or not — had a 46 percent greater chance of developing type 2 diabetes.

Do these findings mean that you should not pursue your divorce action?

Not necessarily.

After all, living in a chronic battleground can also produce toxic consequences for your physical and mental health.

These studies point to the importance of making an “informed consent” to divorce. An informed consent entails knowing the potential consequences of divorce on your current and future finances, family systems, and mental and physical health – and then making sure that you pro-actively seek solutions to avoid these negative consequences.

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.