Does Excessive Drinking Make Divorce More Likely?
Research suggests that excessive drinking by one partner can impact the couple’s chances of getting a divorce. As noted in the Medical Daily, divorce is more likely if one person is a heavy drinker and the other is not.
While this information is not necessarily surprising, it may be one of the first studies that show the correlation between alcohol use and divorce. The study which followed over 600 couples for a period of nine years found that when one spouse was a heavy drinker it made it more likely that the couple would get divorced. Heavy drinkers described as those who “consumed six or more drinks at one time, or drank until they were intoxicated.”
The normal divorce rate is about 30 percent according to the research but where one spouse was defined as a heavy drinker, the rate spiked to 50 percent. Around half of the marriages where one person drank excessively ended in divorce.
Excessive alcohol consumption by one partner was more likely to lead to “marital dissatisfaction, separation, and divorce.”
Binge drinking and excessive drinking is known to cause adverse health problems and can affect your mental well-being. Alcohol can have a negative impact on your sleep, weight, and may impair your normal functions.
It is important that if you or a loved one has developed a dependence on alcohol you seek treatment immediately. Alcohol may not only affect your marriage, it can also deeply impact your children. Children who grow up with a parent who has a substance use disorder are more likely to develop one later in life. They may also be more likely to struggle in school and work.
Treatment is no longer a one-size-fits-all approach. Alcohol treatment now involves a multi-faceted method of addressing the root of the problem.