Teenagers are particularly vulnerable to major life changes and family disruption. While each individual teenager will be unique, experts often advise divorcing parents to be aware of the needs and emotional responses of their teen children. Periods of increased stress can lead to depressive episodes, and teens who experience depression are at higher risk for social difficulties and poor school performance.
Experts agree that a major life disruption like divorce will often lead to increased stress and risk for depression. Women are, in general, more susceptible to depression due to hormonal factors that can influence the brain chemicals that regulate mood. According to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), women often respond to these events in ways that prolong the stress and increase the risk for depression.
Separation or divorce from a spouse is often an extremely disruptive and traumatic process. These types of highly emotional events can result in grief and depression. It's important to knows the signs of stress and depression: Self-care techniques can offer simple solutions and can also curtail the onset of serious depressive episodes during the separation and divorce process.
Divorcing a partner who has major depressive disorder is a sensitive subject, and it's one that requires marriage counseling. Learn about going through divorce in a professional environment with help from a licensed psychotherapist in this free video on ending a marriage.
According to the Mayo Clinic, major depressive disorder is a mental illness that is characterized by persistent feelings of hopelessness, sadness, anxiety, guilt and worthlessness. Major life changes, such as divorce, can increase the severity of depression. If you have a spouse who is suffering from major depression disorder, you can make your divorce easier for both of you by helping her find appropriate support systems and learning about the nature of her illness.
Getting divorced is a lot like experiencing the death of a loved one. In this case, your marriage has died and, with it, all the plans, hopes, and dreams that you and your spouse shared. As you mourn the death of your marriage, depression frequently sets in, creating feelings of fatigue, anxiousness, guilt, worthlessness, emotionalism, and irritability. For a time, it feels like your world is being ripped apart, and the depression that sets in can almost numb your mind, making it hard for your to cope with all of the new and scary changes in your life. But you…
Divorce can be an extremely devastating experience. People who have ended a marriage find themselves going through a grieving process that is not unlike what they might go through had a death occurred. The same emotions associated with loss transpire, running the gamut from anger to shame to outright despair. Depression arises as a result of this, but there are ways you can learn to cope.