Marriage Not Thought to Have Health Benefits

 Posted on April 12, 2013 in Divorce

One reason that people may stay in a bad marriage after they should be thinking about divorce is research that points to the idea that marriage makes people healthier. Conventional wisdom dictates that having a partner with whom to go through life makes people more likely to live longer and healthier, but a new study, according to U.S. News and World Report, points to the fact that the health benefits of marriage "seem to fade when you need them most." This could be a good argument for divorce over staying in an unhappy marriage.

Ohio State University researchers found that not only do married people often overestimate how healthy they are, a good marriage "provides less protection against death as health declines." The act of marriage is not equally protective for everyone, and as study lead author Hui Zheng told U.S. News and World Report, "for those who are already in poor health, marriage doesn't seem to provide any extra benefits." The findings we true for both men and women.

The survey was conducted among nearly 800,000 people who "took part in the U.S. National Health Interview Survey from 1986 to 2004." Overall, the study confirmed that, "people who are not married have a significantly increased risk of death within three years." That is, "never-married people who rate their health as excellent are twice as likely to die within three years than married people in excellent health." Yet the new findings that the study points to confirms the idea that a marriage can't solve health risks, and proves that once a person becomes seriously ill the fact of whether or not he or she is married does not matter.

If you or someone you know is considering divorce but had staved it off because the threat of being alone was thought to cause health issues, now may be the right time for reconsideration. Don't go through it alone. Contact a dedicated Illinois divorce attorney today.

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