It’s a common belief that women are typically more emotional than men. However, many studies have been done on the subject of who the divorce is harder on, each to discover that divorce is harder on men.
In fact, a husband may have much more to lose in terms of both health and happiness in a divorce than his wife; let’s look at some of the reasons why this might be.
Here’s Why Divorce is Harder on Men than Women
1. Men Skip the Grieving Process
Divorce is one of the most stressful things that can happen in life and only more stressful than the death of a close friend or family member. The person you are losing in the case of a marriage dissolution has been your partner and in your life for a long time and grief is a natural feeling. When men skip the grieving period, they feel at a loss, as their plans are derailed, goals and dreams are changed, and the life plan will differ substantially.
Women take time to grieve, which is a healthy emotion and much needed to move on. Women will also seek professional help or help from family members when they divorce to aid in their emotional state. When men bottle up their emotions, it can result in massive depression and anxiety.
2. Men’s Health Declines Drastically
Men experience more health problems in the process and after a divorce. The most common health problems include weight fluctuations, depression, anxiety, and insomnia. Men also have the added stress of handling all the finances and identity loss, which makes them much more susceptible to both stroke and heart disease. Men are also more likely to self-medicate with alcohol and drugs than women are instead of seeking therapy as women do in stressful times.
When married, wives usually try to encourage healthy behaviors of their spouses. This can make men more dependent on the women. When men are depressed, they talk to their wives, whereas when women are depressed, they often choose to speak with a professional, friend or family member. Men are just not accustomed to seeking out emotional support from others that aren’t their spouse.
3. Men Lose Their Identity
When couples are together, they identify as being a wife or husband and this is a large part of who you are. The marriage status is one of the critical factors in self-identification and how others view you.
Husbands, when going through a divorce, see themselves as no longer being half of a partnership, whereas women are more likely to pick up new activities and join groups during the marriage than men do. This allows women to have a social connection that can still exist after a divorce. Men don’t get involved in new activities after a marriage dissolution.
4. Men Rush Into New Relationships
Since men don’t take the time to grieve correctly, they don’t want to be alone after a divorce and will most likely rush into a new relationship right away. In this manner, they can meet someone new and suppress all their feelings and disappointments with the failed marriage. This can lead to troublesome relationships.
On the other hand, women take time out to grieve and examine their emotions. Women will also take their time before entering a new relationship, making a future relationship stronger. Women are also more likely to not rush into something new because face it, who wants to feel like they are back in high school with all the uncertainties of those relationships.
Divorced women are much less likely to remarry than divorced men. If you notice, online dating sites have a large excess of men over women. Many women with children that divorce doesn’t want to enter into another relationship after the first wasn’t successful for fear of a new relationship not lasting either.
5. Men Miss Their Children
More often than not, after a divorce, the mother ends up with child custody. This will leave men only seeing their children on a custody schedule and not on an everyday basis as they did when they were married. Men will feel like they aren’t a part of the children’s lives anymore because they miss the big baseball game, parties or other events that still exist. Men don’t appreciate calling their children to find out what’s going on.
Women, on the other hand, are still a significant player in the children’s lives if they live with their mom. Most often, the mom will feel fulfilled and distracted from unproductive feelings because the children are with her and she interacts with them on a daily basis.
6. Divorce Is Hard for Everyone
Breakups are hard for both men and women, but most women are better able to cope with their feelings and move on after grieving than men do. This is likely due at least in part to the fact that women tend to have much better support networks in place – close friends to talk to, grieve with, and receive comfort and encouragement from – and they are more likely to seek therapy than men. Women have been shown to have a slight decline in physical and emotional health, but the same effects are much stronger for men, as they don’t seek psychological help in any manner.
Women are also shown to come out stronger after a divorce, while men may try to move forward and never overcome the anguish it has caused them.
Women initiate divorce more often than men (according to Stanford sociologist Michael Rosenfeld, 69% of divorces are initiated by women), and studies have shown that marital happiness is typically higher for men than for women1. Other studies have demonstrated that divorce is associated with worse mental and physical health for men than for women2; in fact, men are more likely to consider suicide after a separation than women3.
So it may be in your best interest as women to give your ex-husband a bit of a break for your children’s sake. Most likely, your kids will still want to spend time with him, and this can help him immensely with health and relationships in the future. If men feel like they failed at the marriage, it can hone their paternal skills to spend time with the children and even re-install the needed sense of belonging and providing for the children.
1 “Trends in Marital Happiness by Gender and Race, 1973-2006,” Journal of Family Issues
2 “The Protective Effect of Marriage for Survival: A Review and Update,” Demography
3 “Suidical Ideation and Behavior in the Aftermath of Marital Separation: Gender Differences,” Journal of Affective Disorders
Great article. I agree with most everything you wrote… the one that was drastically different in my case was #4, with “women take their time before entering new relationships.” My ex was remarried within 18 months after our divorce. That kind of blew my mind and made me wonder how long they dated before they married. It must have been a few months at least. She definitely rushed into a new marriage. But I realize that all of these things are generalizations, and mostly true… just an anomaly in my case.
Divorce is harder on men because there’s a lack of support for divorcing men. There’s a plethora of women’s support groups but men have to seek them out. I appreciate magazines like this for drawing attention to that fact. Books like MENy Calculations help men as well.
This article is so condescending to all men. First, you imply that the wrongful masculinity of men leads them be in pain because of their own fault. This article takes no account of the cruel and sexist divorce laws that favor woman financially and with custody laws – regardless if the woman was the cause of the divorce. Finally, you then state that it’s a difficult time for everyone, essentially making your point clear that it’s either hard for everyone or it’s the man’s fault.
yup, would you expect anything else? always the man’s fault, mgtow!
Gents please make shore that you take the time to teach your sons and yes your daughters the power of a prenup. Then later when they too have a week moment and chose to take a knee at least we know that the proposal comes along with the prenup. Then if their partner disagrees, we know that our children are educated and informed enough to understand that this partner is not the one for their future. “Where’s the love?” I hear you ask.
WELL. If a person truly loves you they don’t care if they have to sign a prenup to be with you.
It’s better to know earlier than 15-20 years down the track when you have worked so hard to build an empire that will keep you and your WONDERFUL WIFE very comfortable even with an early retirement along with at least one good oversees trip away once a year. Keep up with the latest vehicles and still have more than enough for any unfortunate and unexpected issues if they arise.
But alas when the divorce lawyers see all of that wonderful family wealth amassed and waiting for the pickings. All the while your asked to PLEASE be respectful and mindful with a positive and happy attitude during times of dialog. Because this has been a very difficult decision and is proving to be a very trying time for incredibly brave soon to be exwife.
Just as the smoke is clearing, you look at what was and the very little left for you, just enough to pay your lawyers bill. You suddenly say to yourself, “I’d better go back to work so I can at least eat again.”
SUDDENLY YOUR HIT WITH A OH NO NO NO, MR SUCKER, WE ARE NOT FINISHED WITH YOU YET. PLEASE SIT DOWN HERE WHILE The judge orders that you are to pay for your wonderful exwives well being! So that she can keep the wonderful life that you have already provided for you one true love up until that point. You know the stay-at-home mother, the go out to lunch with the girls, training classes to keep trim, day spa days and serum treatments to keep her face young and beautiful for you. Plus you couldn’t expect her to pay for her new house and her general living expenses. Don’t worry though your alimony payment usually only lasts for around 15-20 years.
PRENUP PRENUP PRENUP PRENUP PRENUP PRENUP PRENUP PRENUP PRENUP
Do men really face more problems?
By what measures?
What are the stats on those benchmarks?
What would it change if it was true?
Are there different emotional pitfalls that we must try to avoid or is it just a difference in statistics over a similar set of post divorce unhealthy situations?
Donald, I don’t know the answers to your questions. I do know that studies have been done and are available if they weren’t linked to in the article. As far as “pitfall,” one suggestion I have for men is to reach out for support. That is the difference between men and women during times of adversity. Women surround themselves with a good support system or, join groups. Most men have a tendency to go it alone which, I believe, plays a role in the reason divorce can be harder on them.
You forget one thing: Men always lose in the family court. Not only do women get child custody in most cases, the woman also gets his house, his pension etc, and he is stuck with alimony even if the woman has a good job. Women have progressed to the 21st century in opportunities but the family courts are still stuck in the 80’s. Thank you. A young man in his early 20s would be a total dumb @ss to marry in any Western country.
Prenup means nothing in the family court.
Just so all you men know it works both ways. I worked and amassed the fortune while I ran the house (which most women do wether they work or not). He took care of our kids but had plenty of personal time while they were in preschool, kindergarten, K-12, play dates, camp,…you get the picture. Oh I might add that I was expected to take over when I got home after a 10 hour day, multi city trip, … because he had a hard, long day. And don’t get me started on reading every page of the paper every day, golf outings, guys overnight trips, etc.
To top it off he gets 1/2 of all our savings, houses, my 401k, annuity… all of it!
So unless you put in equally to the relationship along the way, one of you will feel ‘cheated’ financially.
This is all “blue pilled” liberal mainstream bullshit… All of it. The reason men have a harder time dealing with a divorce than women do is because men and women are total polar opposites in nearly every way! Men don’t think like women do, men don’t act like women do and men don’t “love” like women do either… Men and women are different, period. Because of evolution and simply put, hypergamy, that is hard wired in every womans brain makes it much easier for women to overcome any relationship hardship (including divorce) in comparison to men. This comes from thousands of years of evolution through natural selection. It’s evolution. It’s hypergamy. It’s science and how human females are, have always been and will always be. In addition, women ALWAYS have gains in todays completely unfair divorce laws, period. Men get screwed over, women make off like a queen. Men have nothing but losses in a divorce whether it be financial, family, child custody… Not to mention the emotional loss of family, a partner, a life, a future. It’s no wonder the suicide rate of divorced men is so high when the woman takes everything and doesn’t have the slightest bit of sorrow, worry or concern for the “partner” she married and then ditched as part of her evolutionary hypergamous nature. Married happily ever after is nothing but a fairy tail lie “spoon fed” since birth and it always has been. The feminine narritive is strong in todays society, but once more men become “red pill aware” marriage will become a thing of the past as more men will wake up and understand that there is simply ZERO point to marriage and that women are an accessory and not a necessity to the lives of men.