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The Psychology of Everyday Life:Love, Marriage, and the Baby Carriage

Divorce

What is the psychological impact of divorce?

Divorce entails tremendous loss and, like any loss, stimulates a grieving process. When people get divorced, they not only lose the marriage—one of the most intense and intimate relationships of their lives—they also lose much of their married life. Most importantly, divorced parents can no longer live full time with their children, and co-parenting, custody, and visitation issues are perhaps the most stressful and conflictual issues in a divorce. There are also added financial pressures, because incomes that supported one household now must support two. When people get divorced, they lose the social life they shared as a couple, as well as their identity as part of a married couple or part of a family. Not surprisingly, research shows an elevated rate of depression, physical illness, and even suicide among divorced people, particularly divorced men.



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