In the previous two segments of this series, we talked about the more tangible costs involved in getting a divorce. These included assorted financial costs, and the potential drain on your personal time. Moving on, we’re going to look at some of the costs that are harder to quantify. In other words, the emotional, mental, and health-related costs.

Many of the costs involved in a divorce have nothing to do with money.

For people leaving abusive relationships, a divorce can mean sweet freedom. But for the folks whose marriages just slowly eroded until there was no structure left to house their love, a divorce can mean having to cope with significant emotional pain and loss.

This is vastly increased when the divorce was only wanted by one person in the relationship, or if the process itself was highly contentious and involved a lot of mud-slinging. A divorce is a very draining process, and can exact very high tolls on a person’s emotional and mental well being.

Divorce can take a toll on your physical and mental health

A number of studies have tied divorce directly to a number of mental and emotional illnesses. These include depression, heart disease, chronic fatigue, high blood pressure, and severe stress. This does have a direct effect on your finances of course, as it tends to result in more doctors visits, hospital stays and prescription medication. But the true cost to your emotional and mental health is difficult to assess.

For many people, this can lead to self-medicating, which means drinking too much, abusing pain medications and other dangerous and habit forming coping mechanisms. But even for those who are able to handle their stress levels and not fall prey to misuse of alcohol or drugs during this difficult time, there are challenges that can be very hard to face.

Starting life over from scratch, especially after being partnered with someone for many years, can be very frightening. Fear and loneliness are two emotions that many recently divorced people claim to experience on a regular basis, which can poorly affect your sleep and your appetite.

Divorce is a major ordeal in life, so be sure it’s what you want before you begin

This may all sound terribly melodramatic, and we’re not trying to scare you off (even if it does seem that way). But we do want you to think very hard about all of the things involved in ending a marriage. Very few people stop to consider what’s involved beforehand, and what they’ll be up against when all is said and done.

So if you are contemplating a divorce, we recommend doing some soul searching first. Spend some time creating lists to help you get a handle on what this will cost you, both in time and money. And don’t forget to account for those hidden emotional costs as well. When you’ve done that, and you feel prepared to make an informed decision, call us at 866 766 5245. The experienced family law attorneys at The Kronzek Firm are here to help you through the process, if you decide that divorce is the option right for you.