It’s
commonly believed that money is the number one cause of divorce. I can’t tell
you how many times I’ve quoted that statistic. I finally asked one of my
colleagues who concentrates in the field of family law if she thought that it was
true. Her answer took me by complete surprise. Based on her 20 plus years of legal experience she believes that the
number one cause of divorce is untreated mental health issues. And those
untreated mental health issues (think depression/anxiety/gambling/substance abuse/anger
management) often lead to serious financial problems and a very “Unhappily Ever
After” kind of marriage.
April is Financial Literacy Month but maybe we should make it Financial Literacy & Mental Health Month. Our world could be a much happier and wealthier place. A study by Georgia College & State University economist, Ben Scafidi, found that “family fragmentation” costs U.S. taxpayers at least $112 billion each year. That figure doesn’t even include the added expense of creating two households where there had been one, let alone the emotional toll that a divorce can take on everyone involved. And according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, untreated mental illness in the U.S. costs more than $100 billion a year in lost productivity. Our judicial system and jails are dealing with a record number of cases involving individuals who suffer from untreated mental illnesses. Suicide ranks among the top three killers among young people and it ranks as number 15 among the most common killers in the U.S. overall. 90 percent of suicides can be attributed to mental illness and it now outnumbers death from car crashes.
April is Financial Literacy Month but maybe we should make it Financial Literacy & Mental Health Month. Our world could be a much happier and wealthier place. A study by Georgia College & State University economist, Ben Scafidi, found that “family fragmentation” costs U.S. taxpayers at least $112 billion each year. That figure doesn’t even include the added expense of creating two households where there had been one, let alone the emotional toll that a divorce can take on everyone involved. And according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, untreated mental illness in the U.S. costs more than $100 billion a year in lost productivity. Our judicial system and jails are dealing with a record number of cases involving individuals who suffer from untreated mental illnesses. Suicide ranks among the top three killers among young people and it ranks as number 15 among the most common killers in the U.S. overall. 90 percent of suicides can be attributed to mental illness and it now outnumbers death from car crashes.
Any
type of stress is bad for our health so it makes sense to do what we can to
take care of the problems that are within our control…like seeking treatment
for mental health issues…and while we're at it becoming financially fit so we don’t bring unnecessary stress into our lives or into the lives of our significant others.
To
learn more about the intersection between marriage and money check out the
following article by Jeffrey Dew titled “Thrifty Couples are the Happiest” at http://www.stateofourunions.org/2009/bank_on_it.php
Wishing
everyone a very happy, healthy, and prosperous day!
Alice
No comments:
Post a Comment