Gray Divorce and Your Physical Health

It’s not all in your mind

This is the fifth article in a series of nine addressing the effects of gray divorce, specifically on the female non-breadwinner.

Divorce is supposed to be healthy, right? You’re getting yourself out of an unhealthy marriage, possibly abusive. You’ve grown apart and unhappy. With your newfound freedom, you’ll be able to release stress, mental tension, and the emotional awkwardness of living with someone you don’t want. The truth is divorce takes a toll on your health.

The Holmes-Rahe Stress Inventory, a scale that predicts which life events are likely to cause a stress-induced health breakdown within two years, places divorce as the second most stressful life event that can be experienced. For the gray divorcee, the problem is worse.

According to the US News and World Report, research suggests that gray divorce is associated with elevated depressive symptoms, including chronic stress or anxiety, and post-traumatic stress symptoms, such as nightmares and flashbacks. Since our focus is on the non-breadwinner in a gray divorce, consider the financial worries that will be added to their burden, worsening the expected stress and its side effects.

One might assume that depression and its symptoms could be treated and dissipate over time. Unfortunately, psychological conditions are more often linked to physical problems for those in their silver years. For example, depression is associated with heart disease, Parkinson’s disease, and Type 2 diabetes. And, if the chronic stress isn’t treated (as is often the case when women live in poverty), the risk of high blood pressure, insomnia, heart disease, obesity, and a weakened immune system is increased significantly.

In my small circle of friends that are gray divorcees, we have type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity, rheumatoid arthritis, irritable bowel syndrome, and acute anxiety.

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