Finding Love Again Isn’t Enough: Women Find It Harder To Adjust to Late-Life Divorce Than Men

Their use of antidepressants is higher and tails off only slightly and briefly after re-partnering.
If the patterns of antidepressant use are any indication, a large, long-term study published in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health suggests that women might struggle more than men to emotionally cope with a divorce or the end of a relationship in later life.

While both sexes increased their antidepressant use in the run-up to, and immediate aftermath of, a divorce, break-up, or bereavement, women’s use of these drugs was greater than men’s. And while re-partnering was associated with a slight reduction in antidepressant use in both sexes, it was particularly short-lived in women, the study findings indicate.