Women take more antidepressants after divorce than men but that doesn’t mean they’re more depressed

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Research out today from Finland suggests women may find it harder to adjust to later-life divorce and break-ups than men.

The study used population data from 229,000 Finns aged 50 to 70 who had undergone divorce, relationship break-up or bereavement and tracked their use of antidepressants before and after their relationship ended.

They found antidepressant use increased in the four years leading to the relationship dissolution in both genders, with women experiencing a more significant increase.

But it’s too simplistic to say women experience poorer mental health or tend to be less happy after divorce than men.

Remind me, how common is divorce?

Just under 50,000 divorces are granted each year in Australia. This has slowly declined since the 1990s.

More couple are choosing to co-habitate, instead of marry, and the majority of couples live together prior to marriage. Divorce statistics don’t include separations of cohabiting couples, even though they are more likely than married couples to separate.

Those who divorce are doing so later in life, often after their children grow up. The median age of divorce increased from 45.9 in 2021 to 46.7 in 2022 for men and from 43.0 to 43.7 for women.

The trend of late divorces also reflects people deciding to marry later in life. The median duration from marriage to divorce in 2022 was around 12.8 years and has remained fairly constant over the past decade.

Why do couples get divorced?

Changes in social attitudes towards marriage and relationships mean divorce is now more accepted. People are opting not to be in unhappy marriages, even if there are children involved.

Instead, they’re turning the focus on marriage quality. This is particularly true for women who have established a career and are financially autonomous.

Similarly, my research shows it’s particularly important for people to feel their relationship expectations can be fulfilled long term. In addition to relationship quality, participants reported needing trust, open communication, safety and acceptance from their partners.

Grey divorce” (divorce at age 50 and older) is becoming increasingly common in Western countries, particularly among high-income populations. While factors such as an empty nest, retirement, or poor health are commonly cited predictors of later-in-life divorce, research shows older couples divorce for the same reasons as younger couples.

What did the new study find?

The study tracked antidepressant use in Finns aged 50 to 70 for four years before their relationship breakdown and four years after.

They found antidepressant use increased in the four years leading to the relationship break-up in both genders. The proportion of women taking antidepressants in the lead up to divorce increased by 7%, compared with 5% for men. For de facto separation antidepressant use increased by 6% for women and 3.2% for men.

Within a year of the break-up, antidepressant use fell back to the level it was 12 months before the break-up. It subsequently remained at that level among the men.

But it was a different story for women. Their use tailed off only slightly immediately after the relationship breakdown but increased again from the first year onwards.

Woman sits at the beach
Women’s antidepressant use increased again.
sk/Unsplash

The researchers also looked at antidepressant use after re-partnering. There was a decline in the use of antidepressants for men and women after starting a new relationship. But this decline was short-lived for women.

But there’s more to the story

Although this data alone suggest women may find it harder to adjust to later-life divorce and break-ups than men, it’s important to note some nuances in the interpretation of this data.

For instance, data suggesting women experience depression more often than men is generally based on the rate of diagnoses and antidepressant use, which does not account for undiagnosed and unmedicated people.

Women are generally more likely to access medical services and thus receive treatment. This is also the case in Australia, where in 2020–2022, 21.6% of women saw a health professional for their mental health, compared with only 12.9% of men.

Why women might struggle more after separating

Nevertheless, relationship dissolution can have a significant impact on people’s mental health. This is particularly the case for women with young children and older women.

So what factors might explain why women might experience greater difficulties after divorce later in life?

Research investigating the financial consequences of grey divorce in men and women showed women experienced a 45% decline in their standard of living (measured by an income-to-needs ratio), whereas men’s dropped by just 21%. These declines persisted over time for men, and only reversed for women following re-partnering.

Another qualitative study investigating the lived experiences of heterosexual couples post-grey divorce identified financial worries as a common theme between female participants.

A female research participant (age 68) said:

[I am most worried about] the money, [and] what I’m going to do when the little bit of money I have runs out […] I have just enough money to live. And, that’s it, [and if] anything happens I’m up a creek. And Medicare is incredibly expensive […] My biggest expense is medicine.

Another factor was loneliness. One male research participant (age 54) described he preferred living with his ex-wife, despite not getting along with her, than being by himself:

It was still [good] knowing that [the] person was there, and now that’s gone.

Other major complications of later-life divorce are possible issues with inheritance rights and next-of-kin relationships for medical decision-making.

Separation can be positive

For some people, divorce or separation can lead to increased happiness and feeling more independent.

And the mental health impact and emotional distress of a relationship dissolution is something that can be counterattacked with resilience. Resilience to dramatic events built from life experience means older adults often do respond better to emotional distress and might be able to adjust better to divorce than their younger counterparts.The Conversation

Raquel Peel, Adjunct Senior Lecturer, University of Southern Queensland and Senior Lecturer, RMIT University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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  • What Are “Adaptogens” Anyway? (And Other Questions Answered)

    10almonds is reader-supported. We may, at no cost to you, receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.

    It’s Q&A Day at 10almonds!

    Have a question or a request? You can always hit “reply” to any of our emails, or use the feedback widget at the bottom!

    In cases where we’ve already covered something, we might link to what we wrote before, but will always be happy to revisit any of our topics again in the future too—there’s always more to say!

    As ever: if the question/request can be answered briefly, we’ll do it here in our Q&A Thursday edition. If not, we’ll make a main feature of it shortly afterwards!

    So, no question/request too big or small

    ❝I tried to use your calculator for heart health, and was unable to enter in my height or weight. Is there another way to calculate? Why will that field not populate?❞

    (this is in reference to yesterday’s main feature “How Are You, Really? And How Old Is Your Heart?“)

    How strange! We tested it in several desktop browsers and several mobile browsers, and were unable to find any version that didn’t work. That includes switching between metric and imperial units, per preference; both appear to work fine. Do be aware that it’ll only take numerical imput, though.

    Did anyone else have this problem? Let us know! (You can reply to this email, or use the handy feedback widget at the bototm)

    ❝I may have missed it, but how much black pepper provides benefits?❞

    So, for any new subscribers joining us today, this is about two recent main features:

    As for a daily dosage of black pepper, it varies depending on the benefit you’re looking for, but:

    • 5–20mg of piperine is the dosage range used in most scientific studies we looked at
    • 10mg is a very common dosage found in many popular supplements
    • That’s the mass of piperine though, so if taking it as actual black pepper rather than as an extract, ½ teaspoon is considered sufficient to enjoy benefits.

    ❝I loved the health benefits of pepper. I do not like pepper. Where can I get it as a supplement?❞

    You can simply buy whole black peppercorns and take a few with water as though they were tablets. Your stomach acid will do the rest. Black pepper is also good for digestion, so taking it with a meal is best.

    You can buy piperine (black pepper extract) by itself as a supplement in powder form, but if you don’t like black pepper, you will probably not like this powder either. We couldn’t find it readily in capsule form.

    You can buy piperine (black pepper extract) as an adjunct to other supplements, with perhaps the most common/popular being turmeric capsules that also contain 10mg (or more) piperine per capsule. Shop around if you like, but here’s one that has 15mg piperine* per capsule, for example.

    *They call it “Bioperine®” but that is literally just piperine. Same goes if you see “Absorbagen™”, it’s still just piperine.

    ❝What do you mean when you say that something is adaptogenic?❞

    Simple version: it means it helps the body adapt to stress, by adjusting the body’s natural responses. Thus, adaptogenic supplements can be contrasted with tranquilizing drugs that mask stress by brute force, for example.

    Technical version: adaptogenic activity refers to improving physiological stress resilience, such as by moderating and modulating hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis signaling, and/or by regulating levels of endogenic compounds involved in the cellular stress response.

    Read more (technical version):

    Effects of Adaptogens on the Central Nervous System and the Molecular Mechanisms Associated with Their Stress-Protective Activity

    Read more (simple version):

    European Medicines Agency’s Reflection Paper On The Adaptogenic Concept

    Enjoy!

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  • The Diabetes Drugs That Can Cut Asthma Attacks By 70%

    10almonds is reader-supported. We may, at no cost to you, receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.

    Asthma, obesity, and type 2 diabetes are closely linked, with the latter two greatly increasing asthma attack risk.

    While bronchodilators / corticosteroids can have immediate adverse effects due to sympathetic nervous system activation, and lasting adverse effects due to the damage it does to metabolic health, diabetes drugs, on the other hand, can improve things with (for most people) fewer unwanted side effects.

    Great! Which drugs?

    Metformin, and glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RAs).

    Specifically, researchers have found:

    • Metformin is associated with a 30% reduction in asthma attacks
    • GLP-1RAs are associated with a 40% reduction in asthma attacks

    …and yes, they stack, making for a 70% reduction in the case of people taking both. Furthermore, the results are independent of weight, glycemic control, or asthma phenotype.

    In terms of what was counted, the primary outcome was asthma attacks at 12-month follow-up, defined by oral corticosteroid use, emergency visits, hospitalizations, or death.

    The effect of metformin on asthma attacks was not affected by BMI, HbA1c levels, eosinophil count, asthma severity, or sex.

    Of the various extra antidiabetic drugs trialled in this study, only GLP-1 receptor agonists showed a further and sustained reduction in asthma attacks.

    Here’s the study itself, hot off the press, published on Monday:

    JAMA Int. Med. | Antidiabetic Medication and Asthma Attacks

    “But what if I’m not diabetic?”

    Good news:

    More than half of all US adults are eligible for semaglutide therapy ← this is because they’ve expanded the things that semaglutide (the widely-used GLP-1 receptor agonist drug) can be prescribed for, now going beyond just diabetes and/or weight loss 😎

    And metformin, of course, is more readily available than semaglutide, so by all means speak with your doctor/pharmacist about that, if it’s of interest to you.

    Take care!

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  • Viruses aren’t always harmful. 6 ways they’re used in health care and pest control

    10almonds is reader-supported. We may, at no cost to you, receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.

    We tend to just think of viruses in terms of their damaging impacts on human health and lives. The 1918 flu pandemic killed around 50 million people. Smallpox claimed 30% of those who caught it, and survivors were often scarred and blinded. More recently, we’re all too familiar with the health and economic impacts of COVID.

    But viruses can also be used to benefit human health, agriculture and the environment.

    Viruses are comparatively simple in structure, consisting of a piece of genetic material (RNA or DNA) enclosed in a protein coat (the capsid). Some also have an outer envelope.

    Viruses get into your cells and use your cell machinery to copy themselves.
    Here are six ways we’ve harnessed this for health care and pest control.

    1. To correct genes

    Viruses are used in some gene therapies to correct malfunctioning genes. Genes are DNA sequences that code for a particular protein required for cell function.

    If we remove viral genetic material from the capsid (protein coat) we can use the space to transport a “cargo” into cells. These modified viruses are called “viral vectors”.

    Viruses consist of a piece of RNA or DNA enclosed in a protein coat called the capsid.
    DEXi

    Viral vectors can deliver a functional gene into someone with a genetic disorder whose own gene is not working properly.

    Some genetic diseases treated this way include haemophilia, sickle cell disease and beta thalassaemia.

    2. Treat cancer

    Viral vectors can be used to treat cancer.

    Healthy people have p53, a tumour-suppressor gene. About half of cancers are associated with the loss of p53.

    Replacing the damaged p53 gene using a viral vector stops the cancerous cell from replicating and tells it to suicide (apoptosis).

    Viral vectors can also be used to deliver an inactive drug to a tumour, where it is then activated to kill the tumour cell.

    This targeted therapy reduces the side effects otherwise seen with cytotoxic (cell-killing) drugs.

    We can also use oncolytic (cancer cell-destroying) viruses to treat some types of cancer.

    Tumour cells have often lost their antiviral defences. In the case of melanoma, a modified herpes simplex virus can kill rapidly dividing melanoma cells while largely leaving non-tumour cells alone.

    3. Create immune responses

    Viral vectors can create a protective immune response to a particular viral antigen.

    One COVID vaccine uses a modified chimp adenovirus (adenoviruses cause the common cold in humans) to transport RNA coding for the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein into human cells.

    The RNA is then used to make spike protein copies, which stimulate our immune cells to replicate and “remember” the spike protein.

    Then, when you are exposed to SARS-CoV-2 for real, your immune system can churn out lots of antibodies and virus-killing cells very quickly to prevent or reduce the severity of infection.

    4. Act as vaccines

    Viruses can be modified to act directly as vaccines themselves in several ways.

    We can weaken a virus (for an attenuated virus vaccine) so it doesn’t cause infection in a healthy host but can still replicate to stimulate the immune response. The chickenpox vaccine works like this.

    The Salk vaccine for polio uses a whole virus that has been inactivated (so it can’t cause disease).

    Others use a small part of the virus such as a capsid protein to stimulate an immune response (subunit vaccines).

    An mRNA vaccine packages up viral RNA for a specific protein that will stimulate an immune response.

    5. Kill bacteria

    Viruses can – in limited situations in Australia – be used to treat antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections.

    Bacteriophages are viruses that kill bacteria. Each type of phage usually infects a particular species of bacteria.

    Unlike antibiotics – which often kill “good” bacteria along with the disease-causing ones – phage therapy leaves your normal flora (useful microbes) intact.

    A phage
    Bacteriophages (red) are viruses that kill bacteria (green).
    Shutterstock

    6. Target plant, fungal or animal pests

    Viruses can be species-specific (infecting one species only) and even cell-specific (infecting one type of cell only).

    This occurs because the proteins viruses use to attach to cells have a shape that binds to a specific type of cell receptor or molecule, like a specific key fits a lock.

    The virus can enter the cells of all species with this receptor/molecule. For example, rabies virus can infect all mammals because we share the right receptor, and mammals have other characteristics that allow infection to occur whereas other non-mammal species don’t.

    When the receptor is only found on one cell type, then the virus will infect that cell type, which may only be found in one or a limited number of species. Hepatitis B virus successfully infects liver cells primarily in humans and chimps.

    We can use that property of specificity to target invasive plant species (reducing the need for chemical herbicides) and pest insects (reducing the need for chemical insecticides). Baculoviruses, for example, are used to control caterpillars.

    Similarly, bacteriophages can be used to control bacterial tomato and grapevine diseases.

    Other viruses reduce plant damage from fungal pests.

    Myxoma virus and calicivirus reduce rabbit populations and their environmental impacts and improve agricultural production.

    Just like humans can be protected against by vaccination, plants can be “immunised” against a disease-causing virus by being exposed to a milder version.The Conversation

    Thea van de Mortel, Professor, Nursing, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Griffith University

    This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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    This is a book that took “whole foods plant-based diet” and ran with it.

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  • HIIT, But Make It HIRT

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    This May HIRT A Bit

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    Centr | Meet Ingrid: Your HIIT HIRT trainer

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    HIIT” is High Intensity Interval Training, which we’ve written about before:

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    You can read more about the science of it, in the above-linked main feature.

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    See also: Chris Hemsworth’s Trainer Ingrid Clay Explains HIRT

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  • Elderhood – by Dr. Louise Aronson

    10almonds is reader-supported. We may, at no cost to you, receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.

    Where does “middle age” end, and “old age” begin? By the United States’ CDC’s categorization, human life involves:

    • 17 stages of childhood, deemed 0–18
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    Click here to check out Elderhood, and empower yours!

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