Put a ring – not for hell, but for your health.
Singles across the globe are at greater risk of experiencing mental health problems than their dating peers, a new study has found.
“Our analysis found that unmarried individuals had a higher risk of depressive symptoms than their married counterparts in all countries,” write the authors of the new study, published Tuesday in the journal Nature Human Behavior.
The research team, including Cuicui Wang from Harvard University, analyzed data from 106,556 participants in seven countries – the US, the UK, Mexico, Ireland, Korea, China and Indonesia – to determine a correlation between depression and marital status.
Considered an urgent public health issue, depression currently has an estimated prevalence of 5% among adults worldwide. Its harmful extent is likely to increase to over 10% by 2025.
Researchers found that unmarried people are 79% more likely to be depressed than people who are married.
Just as alarmingly, widows are at a 64% risk of dealing with the chronic condition, while divorcees are 99% more likely to suffer from depression compared to happily married girlfriends.
And, unfortunately for singles, it seems the findings are spot on.
Recent data published in Global Epidemiology found that marriage helps reduce the death rate by a third for women.
Shockingly, a separate study suggested that even unhappily married spouses enjoy better health than solo cyclists.
“Marital/cohabiting relationships [are] inversely related to HbA1c levels, regardless of the dimensions of support or strain of the partner,” the researchers said, finding that partnership — whether sex or standing — keeps blood sugar levels low.
Wang and her co-authors added that the health benefits of marriage may include increased access to economic resources, exchange of social support, and spouses’ positive influence on each other’s mental well-being.
For singles, however, the risk of depression was higher for residents in Western countries – such as the US, UK and Ireland – than those in Eastern countries such as China, Korea and Indonesia. But, according to the research, alcohol intake increased later risks of depressive symptoms among single, widowed, and divorced or separated Chinese, Korean, and Mexican participants.
Regardless of the study’s results, New York’s oldest citizen recently told The Post that staying loose and free is her key to longevity.
“This is why I live. That’s why I’m fine because I didn’t get married,” said Louise Jean Signore, of the Bronx, shortly before her 112th birthday in August. “No marriage, no children”.
“I’d rather be single.”
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