17.) Divorced people are more likely to suffer from mental illness, heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and other chronic conditions. This is caused in part by the stress and long lasting trauma of divorce as well as the fact that married couples tend to have better health habits and thus live a cleaner and healthier lifestyle.
18.) How divorce affects children depends on their age:
Infants lack the cognitive development to understand what is happening but they do sense and react to changes in the parents emotions and energy levels. Preschool children may fear abandonment and often feel that they are the reason for the divorce because they may have misbehaved in some way. Preadolescent children have a better understanding of the divorce but they also have a greater self awareness of their own pain. This self awareness only amplifies the pain because they lack coping skills. Teens can feel overwhelmed with the stress of too many changes being forced on them. They will feel anxious about how their world will change and what the future holds. They may feel a loss of parental support in coping with becoming an adult.
