Post Date December, 03 2023
Recently, a psychological research result pointed out that men trapped in marriage are more likely to suffer from mental diseases than those who only live with their girlfriends; On the contrary, marriage is more beneficial to women's mental health than cohabitation. What is more surprising is that the mental health of single women seems to be better than that of women with partners.
A stable marriage is good for mental health
The study, published in the British Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, said that old singles are most likely to suffer from depression. A group of researchers from Queen Mary College, University of London, UK, conducted a survey of 4000 British men and women under the age of 65, and found that men and women who can carry out their first marriage or cohabitation relationship to the end are bound to benefit in their later years. These people are the least vulnerable to mental illness.
Researchers found that if a partner relationship breaks down, the risk of mental illness of both parties is greatly increased. Among them, women are more vulnerable than men and need more time to recover than men. The survey also shows that women can live well without a heterosexual partner. Women who have never been in love rarely have mental problems, while women who have married or cohabited with their boyfriends are not so lucky. However, once a woman has a partner, marriage is more conducive to mental health than cohabitation.
Women marry better than live together
The study found that women living together are more likely to suffer from mental illness than married women, which may be because women living together enjoy fewer rights than married women. The researchers pointed out that "lack of security is the main reason for the poor mental condition of cohabiting women." The relationship expert Paula Hower believes that this result is caused by the differences in the needs of men and women. "Women need a sense of security. Because they have the responsibility to have children and have the instinct to take care of and protect them, marriage is very important to them, while men don't value it very much. The stable family women yearn for is like a cage to men. So they prefer to live together rather than marry." From the perspective of women, experts in the UK suggested that the country strengthen legislation to protect the rights and interests of women living together.
In fact, psychological experts have different opinions on whether marriage is only beneficial to women. Australian scholars believe that marriage can benefit both men and women. The survey shows that only one in eight married people has psychological problems; Among singles, this number has risen to 1/4. Among them, married women with children are the least likely to have psychological problems. In the 1970s, a study pointed out that marriage increased women's mental pressure. However, current research points out that both men and women in marriage are generally under great pressure. This shows that with the progress of the times, women's social roles are gradually changing. Even if marriage fails, they also face many opportunities in life and work, so the pressure brought by marriage to women is relatively small.
Family helps men relieve pressure
In another seven-year study, scientists found that married men and women are healthier than single people of the same age. This may be related to the general supportive attitude of the society towards marriage, or to the irregular single life and lack of care. British researchers found through the national census that the risk of death of married men is 9% lower than that of single men, while the difference between married women and single women is not so obvious.
Psychologists believe that marriage gives men a sense of security, so it is good for their health. We know that a person who can speak confidences is very important to maintain physical and mental health. One of the reasons why married men are healthy is that they have someone to listen to their worries, and single men lack this condition. Because men like to show their strong side to the outside world, the object of complaining about their troubles is usually only their wife. Women have more objects to tell. Besides their other half, they can talk to their best girlfriend. Therefore, even single women have many objects to talk to, and will not get sick because of being single.
