Divorce Stress Syndrome can lead to depression, eczema and muscle pain

Divorce can have a devastating impact on one’s health – even if you’re an A-lister like Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt.

That is according to a growing swell of research into ‘divorce stress syndrome’. 

Doctors and therapists are increasingly acknowledging marital break-up as a cause for both emotional and physical ailments – including eczema and muscle pain. 

‘Nearly all of the people I see experience symptoms like stress, low mood, depression and insomnia,’ says family therapist Charlotte Friedman, who runs Divorce Support Group in the UK.

Divorce can have a devastating impact on one’s health – even if you’re an A-lister like Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, experts warn as they explore the idea of ‘divorce stress syndrome’

‘Around 60 per cent of people also suffer physical symptoms, which might include migraine, eczema or back trouble – usually the result of muscular tension,’ she adds. 

Indeed, a recent study by the University of Michigan showed those who divorce experience a more rapid decline in their health than those who remain married.

And while men tend to suffer more long-term health issues after divorce, women are more seriously affected in the short-term. 

Experts attribute these effects to stress and grief.  

In the US, high-conflict divorces are seen as so stressful that they have been reclassified as one of the causes of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), a condition usually associated with accident victims or soldiers in war zones.

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Women are twice as likely to suffer from PTSD, suffering symptoms which include flashbacks, unsocial behaviour, heightened anxiety, insomnia and psychosomatic illness.

Even if it’s the wife who has made the decision to leave her marriage, guilt and emptiness can still take their toll. 

Charlotte Friedman explains: ‘The marriage may have been unhappy, but it’s still a loss you have to deal with.’

Dr David Pastrana, a legal professor based in Arizona, argues that the newly-divorced go through the same stages of emotional readjustment as those coming to terms with bereavement — namely, denial, anger, depression and acceptance.

‘Divorce can affect us emotionally, mentally and physically, beyond our expectations,’ Dr Pastrana, author of the book Divorce Stress Syndrome, explains.

‘As you mourn the death of a loved one, so you encounter divorce grief. 

‘Recognising these feelings and acknowledging that you must go through a transitional healing process is a good place to start. Once you’ve understood them, you’re on your way to overcoming them.’ 

Psychologist Dr James Lynch, author of The Broken Heart: The Medical Consequences Of Loneliness, concurs. 

He believes the links between emotional stress and physical illness are only beginning to be recognized.

Studies show that psychological stress increases the damage caused by free radicals — unstable molecules which attack healthy cells and are believed to play a part in heart disease, cancer and other serious diseases.

Under duress, the body produces more of the fight-or-flight hormone cortisol, which destabilizes the body’s immune system and makes it less able to fight off illness. 

Numerous studies have identified a link between stress levels and cancer.

Researchers at the University of Illinois recently studied 989 women diagnosed with breast cancer over a three-month period, and found an association between stress and the disease.

According to the paper presented at the American Association for Cancer Research, women suffering from stress were more likely to have a more aggressive form of breast cancer.