Women take more antidepressants after divorce than men but that doesn’t mean they’re more depressed

Research out today from Finland suggests women may find it harder to regulate to later-life divorce and break-ups than men.

The study used population data from 229,000 Finns aged 50 to 70 who had undergone divorce, relationship break-up or bereavement and tracked their use of antidepressants before and after their relationship ended.

They found antidepressant use increased within the 4 years resulting in the connection dissolution in each genders, with women experiencing a more significant increase.

But it’s too simplistic to say women experience poorer mental health or are likely to be less comfortable after divorce than men.

Remind me, how common is divorce?

Just under 50,000 divorces are granted every year in Australia. This has slowly declined because the Nineteen Nineties.

More couple are selecting to co-habitateas an alternative of marry, and nearly all of couples live together prior to marriage. Divorce statistics don’t include separations of cohabiting couples, though they’re more likely than married couples to separate.

Those who divorce are doing so later in lifeoften after their children grow up. The median age of divorce increased from 45.9 in 2021 to 46.7 in 2022 for men and from 43.0 to 43.7 for ladies.

The trend of late divorces also reflects people deciding to marry later in life. The median duration from marriage to divorce in 2022 was around 12.8 years and has remained fairly constant over the past decade.

Why do couples get divorced?

Changes in social attitudes towards marriage and relationships mean divorce is now more accepted. People are opting to not be in unhappy marriages, even when there are kids involved.

Instead, they’re turning the give attention to marriage quality. This is especially true for ladies who’ve established a profession and are financially autonomous.

Similarly, my research shows it’s particularly essential for people to feel their relationship expectations might be fulfilled long run. In addition to relationship quality, participants reported needing trust, open communication, safety and acceptance from their partners.

“Grey divorce” (divorce at age 50 and older) is becoming increasingly common in Western countries, particularly amongst high-income populations. While aspects akin to an empty nest, retirement, or poor health are commonly cited predictors of later-in-life divorce, research shows older couples divorce for a similar reasons as younger couples.

What did the brand new study find?

The study tracked antidepressant use in Finns aged 50 to 70 for 4 years before their relationship breakdown and 4 years after.

They found antidepressant use increased within the 4 years resulting in the connection break-up in each genders. The proportion of ladies taking antidepressants within the lead as much as divorce increased by 7%, compared with 5% for men. For de facto separation antidepressant use increased by 6% for ladies and three.2% for men.

Within a 12 months of the break-up, antidepressant use fell back to the extent it was 12 months before the break-up. It subsequently remained at that level amongst the lads.

But it was a special story for ladies. Their use tailed off only barely immediately after the connection breakdown but increased again from the primary 12 months onwards.

The researchers also checked out antidepressant use after re-partnering. There was a decline in the usage of antidepressants for men and girls after starting a brand new relationship. But this decline was short-lived for ladies.

But there’s more to the story

Although this data alone suggest women may find it harder to regulate to later-life divorce and break-ups than men, it’s essential to notice some nuances within the interpretation of this data.

For instance, data suggesting women experience depression more often than men is mostly based on the speed of diagnoses and antidepressant use, which doesn’t account for undiagnosed and unmedicated people.

Women are generally more prone to access medical services and thus receive treatment. This can be the case in Australiawhere in 2020–2022, 21.6% of ladies saw a health skilled for his or her mental health, compared with only 12.9% of men.

Why women might struggle more after separating

Nevertheless, relationship dissolution can have a big impact on people’s mental health. This is especially the case for women with young children and older women.

So what aspects might explain why women might experience greater difficulties after divorce later in life?

Research investigating the financial consequences of grey divorce in men and girls showed women experienced a forty five% decline of their way of life (measured by an income-to-needs ratio), whereas men’s dropped by just 21%. These declines persevered over time for men, and only reversed for ladies following re-partnering.

Another qualitative study investigating the lived experiences of heterosexual couples post-grey divorce identified financial worries as a typical theme between female participants.

A female research participant (age 68) said:

[I am most worried about] the cash, [and] what I’m going to do when the little little bit of money I even have runs out […] I even have barely enough money to live. And, that’s it, [and if] anything happens I’m up a creek. And Medicare is incredibly expensive […] My biggest expense is medicine.

Another factor was loneliness. One male research participant (age 54) described he preferred living along with his ex-wife, despite not getting along together with her, than being by himself:

It was still [good] knowing that [the] person was there, and now that’s gone.

Other major complications of later-life divorce are possible issues with inheritance rights and next-of-kin relationships for medical decision-making.

Separation might be positive

For some people, divorce or separation can lead to increased happiness and feeling more independent.

And the mental health impact and emotional distress of a relationship dissolution is something that might be counterattacked with resilience. Resilience to dramatic events built from life experience means older adults often do respond higher to emotional distress and might have the option to adjust higher to divorce than their younger counterparts.