When Marriage Ends: The Impact of Divorce on Mental and Behavioral Health

Profound emotional turmoil as the result of major life transitions is referred to as phase of life issues. In contrast to spontaneously occurring mental health disorders, these psychological struggles are rooted in specific significant events that disrupt your ability to achieve emotional harmony and function in healthy ways. Divorce is one of the most prevalent phase of life issues and is recognized by the Holmes and Rahe Stress Scale as the “second most stressful life event a person can experience, second only to death of a spouse.” You may find yourself isolating yourself from family and friends, experiencing deep insecurity, acting out in destructive and uncharacteristic ways, having intrusive thoughts, and feeling an overwhelming sense of hopelessness. Feelings of depression and anxiety may emerge and keep you from experiencing pleasure or envisioning a joyful future for yourself. As divorce has become more common, the medical community has begun to recognize its destructive impact on both emotional and physical well-being, as well as the need for treatments specifically designed to support people who are struggling after divorce.

The effects of divorce are not just confined to the emotional realm, but may be articulated through specific behavioral disturbances that endanger physical health. One particularly common phenomenon experienced by people struggling with the stress of marriage breakdown is the development of disordered eating patterns. While many joke about the benefits of the “divorce diet,” in reality, weight loss following separation and divorce can be indicative of a serious and destructive physiological response to overwhelming stress. As psychologist Dr. James Harris, manager of the Eating Disorders Program at Presbyterian Hospital of Dallas, notes,

When you have a trauma like a divorce, there’s a physical reaction. You’re not sleeping, you’re skipping meals and you’re feeling stressed. Trauma and grief from […] divorce affect the limbic system – the seat of emotion – in the brain, and that can shut down the appetite.

However, undereating is not the only eating disorder caused by divorce. Some turn to food for emotional comfort, leading to overeating and binge eating in an attempt to cope with psychological pain. Camille, a woman interviewed by Psychology Today, described how “she would go to the mailbox, find a letter from her husband’s attorney, and dig into a box of cookies while staring at the letter, thinking it might open itself. Every familiar number on caller ID, every email, every letter triggered a binge.” Although many eating disorders begin during the divorce itself, some emerge later as people struggle to adapt to their new realities.

While some seek comfort in food, others experiencing overwhelming distress following divorce self-medicate with drugs and alcohol to find relief from psychological pain. This is particularly true for recently divorced men. A highly publicized study presented at the 107^th annual meeting of the American Sociological Association found that divorced men consume “a significantly greater number of drinks than men in long-term marriages.” The researchers also found that while divorced women as a whole consume less alcohol than married women, the prevalence of “at least one drinking-related problem was significantly higher among long-term divorced and recently divorced women than long-term married women.” When the seed of substance abuse is planted by marriage dissolution, it is imperative that the psychological effects of divorce are treated in concert with the substance use itself to address the full scope of the problem and ensure lasting sobriety.