Barbara Sadler: Can Divorce Cause Mental Illness?

This is a great question asked every day. Well, in cases of a divorce there is a lot of stress as people wonder whether things are gonna be okay after the divorce. This can cause mental health disorders to the parties involved.

It might be difficult for these people to make any decision soberly and may end up indulging themselves in unruly behavior they never had before.
It is better we are keen on some of the behaviors that we adopt when we are under pressure after a divorce or in the process of divorce. Sleeping a lot or little could be one of the sign, eating too much or too little, drug and substance abuse and thinking of harming oneself are some of the things we should be watching closely.

The more ignorant we are the more dangerous it can be on our state of mind.

What is a mental illness?

Mental health refers to a range of health conditions which affects how a person feels, behaves, thinks and his or her interaction with other people.
When a person is going through a tough time like divorce in life, they may not be able to hold the pain for long and so may end up developing a complex. There are a number of types of mental illnesses. Let’s dive in.
Types of mental illness

● Anxiety disorders

This disorder is illnesses that cause people to feel frightened, distressed and uneasy for no apparent reason. Normally when people are going through a divorce there is a lot of fear for the future and life.
Your life is in a transition bumping into the world of the unknown is the major fear that creeps into your mind. Don’t ever panic about life. Provided you are on the right path, you will make your way through. Again when you realize you panic a lot or you have a phobia in any way, it’s better you seek medical support. Left untreated, these disorders can dramatically reduce productivity and significantly diminish an individual’s quality of life.

● Mood disorders

Divorce comes as a full package especially when you are not expecting it to happen. You will find yourself developing a lot of anger with just simple things including your kids. Sometime you are sad, other times you feel lonely and irritated for no reason.

Remember in as much as you are sad that your marriage is breaking up, there are people who care about you. Make sure you don’t hurt those who care in the name of a divorce. In fact, this is the time you should be very cautious. If you notice that you are developing mood swings, seek help swiftly before it erupts into something big.

● Eating disorders

Abnormal eating habits are serious, chronic conditions that can be life-threatening, if left untreated. In most cases after divorce, there are variations in the expression, symptoms, and course of eating disorders. Some people after divorce will eat a lot more than they used to and at times others eat less or don’t eat at all. This is expected but if ignored it can develop to something big.

● Dementia

This is a condition which is distinguished by consciousness disruption. After divorce, it’s likely you’ll start forgetting things because of overworking your mind. Losing your memory could lead to a bigger problem so is better to seek help from a psychiatrist

● Personality disorders

People with personality disorders have extreme and inflexible personality traits that are distressing to the person’s social relationship. In addition, the person’s patterns of thinking and behavior significantly differ from the expectations of society and are so rigid that they interfere with the person’s normal functioning.

● Pre and post-traumatic stress disorders

It is a condition that develops after going through or before going through a terrifying event for instance, an exam, a divorce, loss of a loved one among other things. In cases of a divorce process and after divorce your social life may be affected greatly.

You might find you want to be alone and mingling with others becomes difficult. In as much as you have pain in your heart, try to make new friends and if possible be able to maintain your social status.

● Impulse control and addiction disorders

People with impulse control disorders are unable to resist urges, or impulse falls, to perform acts that could be harmful to themselves or others. Alcohol and drug are very common when it comes to substance and drugs abuse as well as objects addictions.

Many people go to abuse in the divorce process and after the divorce since they believe it could release them off the pressure. Others become sexually addicted and cannot help themselves out so its better to seek help as early as possible before things falls apart.

For you to evade stress that comes with the divorces am going to take you through to a number of tips how you can manage mental illness.

Tips to manage mental illness

All breakups are difficult, but ending a marriage with someone who has a personality disorder or mental illness can put your divorce at the extreme end of the spectrum. You don’t think right and you may find yourself going crazy. The best thing for you is to understand the following:

● Feelings will flood your journey but what matters is how you will respond to them

Recognize that you will at times feel exhausted, sad, angry, pain and confused. Again you will feel like your world is coming to an end and the future becomes a nightmare. At this juncture, the way you will respond to this reaction is what matters most. Make sure most of your time you are engaged with something to keep yourself busy.

● Take time to heal and re-energize

Giving yourself a break could be good for you. Understanding that for some time you will not be as productive as you were before the divorce could save you a lot of trouble. Nobody’s perfect and nobody’s a superman or a superwoman. Understand its very normal to feel that way and move on to regroup yourself back on the track.

● Find someone accountable you can talk to, don’t go through it alone.

Sharing your feelings and problems during this time with family and friends can help you carry on this period. As you share you will realize you are not alone. Many could be going through the same and it could help you to overcome also. Join support groups and seek a lot of advice from maybe a counselor to help you go through.

Isolating yourself can raise your stress levels, reduce your concentration, and get in the way of your work, relationships and overall health. Don’t be afraid to get outside help if you need it.

● Reconnect with the things you enjoy most apart from your spouse
Sometimes because of the responsibilities that come with marriage, we tend to forego our interests. During this time take your time to explore what makes you happy. See yourself as successful as you can be in musical interest, start your dream business, you want to be swift start skating classes.

What I want to communicate is make sure you exhaust your potential to the maximum of your abilities.

● Take care of yourself emotionally and physically

Be good to yourself and to your body. Take time out to exercise, eat well and relax. Keep to your normal routines as much as possible. Try to avoid making major decisions or changes in life plans.

Don’t use alcohol, drugs or cigarettes as a way to cope; they only lead to more problems. Let your life be your motivation factor. Know your ex partner is watching and everyone around so please don’t give them a chance to prove you wrong.

● Do not involve your kids in your conflict with your ex-partner
Make sure you avoid arguing with or talking negatively about the other parent in front of your kids. Don’t use them as spies or messengers, or make them take sides. As much as you and your spouse have parted ways, your kids will remain to be for you both.

Talking ill of the other spouse could lead them to develop a bad attitude toward their daddy or mommy. It is better as you fight you keep your children off the game.

● Think positively.

This may not come automatically but try as much as you can to always think possibilities. Things could be a bit rough for you but there is always a way in a highway. Navigate the world. Make and meet new friends, move forward to with reasonable expectation and understand there is no time for self-pity it will make your transition easier.

Treatment for mental illness

Mental illness just like any other disease needs to be treated for the person to be fit. There are various ways in which mental health can be treated you can have psychological therapy, medication, and various supports in the community quickly let’s dig deeper into them.

● Psychological therapy

Visiting a doctor, a psychologist or any other professional and talks about symptoms and concerns you have been developing. Discuss new ways of thinking about and managing them. will help you recover. Mostly divorce requires you to take a lot of talking to relationship experts for you be able to carry it through.

● Medication

It reaches a point in life where you cannot bear the pain and so end up being sick mentally and so some people start taking medication for a while. Others may need it on a daily basis depending on the level of the condition they might be in.

Medical research shows that many mental illnesses are associated with an event that happens in life divorce being one of them. If at all you cannot bear it up, it’s better to use medication before things go to the extreme.

● Join a community support program

Be dynamic. Utilize your free time and if you don’t have time create to serve your community. It’s a great way of healing, the more you get involved the more healing becomes easier for you. I know you are asking what you could do for your community but there is a lot especially when you want to overcome waves of divorce.

Get to know people in your community who need help and channel your efforts there. Starts off charity and other support programs as the day go by you will find yourself healing.

● Dual Diagnosis Treatment

Dual diagnosis treatment offers comprehensive mental health services for those struggling with both a mental health condition and an addiction or substance use disorder. Dual diagnosis treatment addresses and treats both conditions simultaneously thereby helps to maximize chances of recovery.

● Peer support

As the saying goes, no man is an island. You need help from friend and relative, share out with them and healing becomes easy for you. Talking to them will help you understand you are not alone and shockingly you will find others with scars worse than yours and were able to overcome.

● Hospitalization

In a minority of cases, hospitalization may be necessary so that an individual can be closely monitored, accurately diagnosed or have medications adjusted when his or her mental illness temporarily worsens.

● Self Help Plan

A self-help plan is a unique health plan where an individual addresses his or her condition by implementing strategies that promote wellness. Self-help plans may involve addressing wellness, recovery, triggers or warning signs. It all starts with you. Understand you are different and accept your current condition. Your marriage breaking up does not mean that the end of your happiness. Remember when one door closes another one opens up for you. Re-plan your life you were born to win and work towards achieving.

Believe in yourself and try as much as you can to think positively about life will help you recover within a short period. You can start doing something different like a business, enroll in a class to further your course or start something different from your area of study. This will help to boost your strength and abilities and eventually unlock a potential you would not have imagined.