Is depression at the heart of your marital troubles? Psychologists indicate that depression is often the root problem for many couples who enter therapy. Before you take the final step to file for divorce in California, consider addressing possible depression present in your or your spouse.
Depression is toxic to relationships
If you feel hopeless about your marriage and plan to seek a divorce, your spouse may not be at fault; it could be depression rearing its ugly head. Depression impedes a healthy marriage and can lead to additional problems like substance abuse and infidelity.
Although depression is a mood disorder, it can affect other aspects of your health. It can also affect cognitive thinking, making it difficult to make decisions, solve problems and see anything positively. Depressed people often feel hopeless about their situation. Depression manifests itself in various ways, with many sufferers not realizing that the problem may lie with them instead of their partner. Depressive symptoms can include:
- Physical – problems sleeping and eating
- Emotional – feeling impatient, irritable, sad or suicidal
- Cognitive – having memory problems and other thought difficulties
- Somatic – headaches, stomach aches or other physical pains
Milder symptoms can be difficult to discern. What’s more, sometimes both partners are depressed, creating what appears as a completely intolerable situation.
Look out for your best interests
The phrase “best interests” is often used in divorce and alimony negotiations, especially with regard to children. However, sometimes the best interests of a couple who feels that their marriage is hopeless involve taking steps for depression treatment. While depression can destroy a relationship, getting treatment for depression can have the opposite. It has the potential to heal a marriage.
Sweeping issues under the rug can augment problems. Couples who address depression early on are much less likely to get divorced as they will encounter fewer problems. Even if you can’t fully resolve your marriage through depression counseling, the process will make the split a little easier. You could end up with a “good” divorce following a failed marriage.
