Nigerian Tribune, Nigeria

Nigerian Tribune, Nigeria 12-12-06

Divorced women prone to health problems

By Olawale Rasheed

For divorced women, the problems are many

Divorce women can probably be considered free from the stress of marriage and are therefore likely to be healthier than their married counterparts. This assertion has however been disputed by a recent study which proved conclusively that divorced women tend to experience more illnesses than their married colleagues.

Women who are divorced may be more at risk of developing physical illnesses than those who aren’t, according to results of a Iowa State University study. Researchers compared the health of both married and divorced women over a span of 10 years to determine whether or not divorce makes an impact on physical health.

“What we found was that the act of getting a divorce produced no immediate effect on (physical) health, but it did have effects on mental health,” said Fred Lorenz, co-author of the study. “Ten years later, those effects on mental health led to effects on their physical health.”

The findings of the study came from information collected from interviews with rural Iowa women in the early 90s and then again in 2001. Among the 416 participants, 102 of them were recently divorced.

The years immediately following the divorce-1991 to 1994-there was a reported 7 per cent increase in psychological stress among divorced women. No physical illness was reported during that time.

However, 10 years later, divorced women developed 37 per cent more physical illnesses that could not be directly associated to the divorce. According to the authors of the study, there could be a link between the increased number of illnesses and the various distresses resulting from a divorce, including parenting problems and financial issues.

The data in the study was readjusted for income, education, age, prior health, and remarriage. Researchers found that the 40 divorced women in the study that had remarried or were cohabitating with a partner experienced positive influences on their health. “We found that divorced individuals who remarried indirectly decreased the risk of health problems because they saw beneficial influences on their financial difficulties,” said K.A.S. Wickrama, a co-author of the study.

A public health analyst, Maggie Gallapher in a journal of the Institute of American values further affirmed that: “A wide body of social science literature confirms that marriage is a powerful protector of public health”.

“Children raised by their own two married parents live longer, have fewer illnesses and accidents and enjoy better health than children that grew outside of intact marriages. Both men and women who got and stay married enjoy similar powerful health advantages.

“The protective power of marital status is not small. Overall, non-married women had mortality rates about 50 per cent higher than wives and non married men had mortality rates about 250 per cent higher than husbands,” Ms Gallagher said.

But why is this so? Mr. Semiu Ogunwale, a motor spare parts dealer at Agodi– gate, Ibadan, noted that divorced women are likely to engage in reckless behaviour which puts them at risk of contracting fatal diseases.

“There was a woman who after divorcing his husband started to sell drinks at a motor park in Lagos. Gradually, she started flirting and finally she contracted HIV. She died early this year (2006).

“When she was to be buried, the sympathizers were all lamenting that if the marriage had not crashed, the woman would not have changed her business and life style and that she would not have contracted that deadly disease,” he said.

Miss Ebunoluwa Shokunle, a resident of Garki, Abuja, in her comment said a divorcee often cares less about her health and so can suffer from psychological depression. “They become disillusioned. They suffer mental torture and they finally break down. It is difficult to maintain a good health under that type of condition.

“I also know of a divorced bank executive who lost her job and later became a nuisance in her area of residence. She deteriorated health wise and almost died until another divorced man proposed and re-married her. She regained her good health months after.

“I think the problem is not just about depression, it is also about financial handicap. Financial distress adds up to depression to wreck such women,” she said. A divorced woman in Felele area of Ibadan who craves anonymity shed light on the relationship between separation and good health: “You can only guess the level of trauma especially when you have children to take care of. It is killing. Only the church saved me from death. “I was down, knocked down and my children especially the grown ups were almost out of control. But God intervened and I married Jesus. I escaped the trauma. “So, I then embarked on calling together other divorced women to change and embrace God if the man is not there. But I must confess that health- wise it is killing,” she said.

A sociologist, Mallam Karibu Yusuf of the University of Abuja noted that the societal disrespect and disdain for unmarried or divorced women contributed to their health crisis. According to him, “the society frowns and condemns being single. Hence, divorcees are largely separated from the society. That is a burden on its own.

“When you now add that to the pain of raising the children, the financial crisis and lack of companionship, what you have is a downward slide in health. It is real that divorcee are prone to health problems”.

Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) has not issued an official report on the issue, but Dr. Mojeed Abdulahi of Accord Hospital in Abuja said various international studies have confirmed the correlation between being a divorcee and poor health.

Will these studies then led to more stable and sustained marriage? Time will tell.