Is marriage good for your mental health? Impact studies reveal

Wear the ring—not for its sake, but for your health.

Single people around the world are at greater risk of mental health problems than their married peers, a new study has found.

“Our analysis shows that across all countries, single people are at higher risk of developing depressive symptoms than married people,” the authors of the new study, published Tuesday in the journal Nature Human Behavior, wrote.

The research team, including Cuicui Wang of Harvard University, analyzed data from 106,556 participants in seven countries: the United States, United Kingdom, Mexico, Ireland, South Korea, China and Indonesia, to determine the correlation between depression and marital status .

Depression is considered an urgent public health problem, with the current global prevalence of depression estimated at 5% among adults. By 2025, the extent of damage could increase to more than 10%.

The survey found that unmarried people are 79% more likely to suffer from depression than married people.

Equally worrying is the fact that compared to happily married couples, widows are 64% more likely to develop this chronic disease, while divorcees are 99% more likely to suffer from depression.

And, sadly for singles, these findings appear to be true.

Recent data published in Global Epidemiology shows that marriage helps reduce female mortality by one-third.

Shockingly, a separate study shows that even couples in unhappy marriages have better health than those who roll alone.

“Marriage/cohabiting relationship [are] There was an inverse association with HbA1c levels, regardless of the amount of spousal support or stress,” the investigators said, revealing that relationships – whether sexy or stale – kept blood sugar levels lower.

Wang and her co-authors added that health benefits of marriage may include increased access to financial resources, the exchange of social support and the positive impact spouses have on each other’s mental health.

However, for singles, residents of Western countries such as the United States, United Kingdom, and Ireland have a higher risk of depression than residents of Eastern countries such as China, South Korea, and Indonesia. However, according to the study, drinking alcohol increased the risk of later developing depressive symptoms among Chinese, Korean and Mexican participants who were single, widowed, divorced or separated.

Despite the findings, New York’s oldest living citizen recently told The Washington Post that remaining free and free from illusions is the key to her longevity.

“That’s why I’m alive. That’s why I’m okay, because I’m not married,” said Louise Jean Signore of the Bronx ahead of her 112th birthday in August . “No marriage, no children.”

“I’d rather be single.”