Defying the Stereotype

In her book Divorce Sucks, Mary Jo Eustace challenges the divorcee to debunk the hurtful stereotypes of divorced people. Writes Eustace: "Our marriages didn't work, so people assume we don't quite work. And this is why it's very important for those of us who have survived the hell of divorce to start redefining what the landscape of the divorced woman [or man] can look like. People can have us over for dinner, even a couple's dinner party, and we promise we won't seduce anyone's husband or dance on the table, expressing ourselves through modern movement and our ability to do the splits."

As funny as this sounds those who have been through a divorce can attest to the fact that they are ostracized from certain family and friends and in fact some couples feel a divorce is "catching."  Hoping to avoid this epidemic they opt to exclude the now single friend , however, I do believe that men suffer this considerably less than women.

Married couples are apt to try to "fix" up the newly single man while the single woman is seen as a threat to every married couple in sight.

A recent study published in the Journal of Health and Social Behavior suggests that divorced or widowed people have 20 percent more chronic health conditions such as heart disease, diabetes or cancer than married people.
Another study in  Psychological Science claimed that a person's happiness level drops as she approaches divorce, although there is rebounding over time if the person works at it.

With Divorce being discribed as the second most stressful life event, preceded only by the death of a spouse it is no wonder depression can is a very serious concern to those in the midst of this life crisis.