The Impact Of Divorce On Parents And Children.

The Impact of Divorce on Parents and Children

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The Impact of Divorce on Parents and Children

Introduction

Divorce is considered as the most difficult phase of a married couple’s life, and which is actually the truth. It is a tough time for the two individuals who once spend a good time together to sign a divorce paper, and make themselves apart for the whole life. Couples who take the worst step of divorce in their lives had never thought that they would do that one day in their life. However, being adults, they can get over that period after some time, but the children become a collateral casualty. The matter of fact is that divorce of parents leaves a significant impact on children. The mind of a child whose parents are divorced can slip into a state of shock. The reason for that is quite simple that the ones the child loves the most are separating for the lifetime, and he/she has no idea that what will be next to see.

Discussion

There is not a single, but there are a number of adverse effects of divorce on the mind of children. The matter of fact is that a divorce of parents can impact the relationships of children. Divorces having long-term effects also has short-term effects on the mental state of a child. A child who has to witness the divorce of his/her parents will never be able to see his parents unite again. At that stage of life, children start developing a number of issues within themselves. One of the most common issues that children face is none other than anxiety (Haimi et al., 2016). The reason for that is quite simple that a child becomes tenser after a divorce. As time passes, the tension increases to nervousness, and the child becomes fully anxious.

One thing that the parents must realize is that as the younger children are more dependant on both parents, so they are more prone to anxiety as compared to the parents. A child having anxiety will not be able to concentrate on his studies, and will likely lose interest in the activities that used to be enticing for him/her. Studies and research have shown that most of the children consider themselves the reason behind the divorce of their parents. The outcomes of this result in having constant stress in their minds and such children are most of the times seen depressed as they start self-blaming.

Moreover, the parents after the divorce may face certain mood swings as well. The reason for that is quite simple that it is not that much easier to take the decision of marriage. Leaving the partner is more difficult. Parents may get affectless, but that does not mean they are not affected at all. Most of the parents after the divorce become irritable even when they interact with familiar people. Another important thing to take in consideration that not only just children have a negative effect on their mind after a divorce, but the parents themselves go to a withdrawal mode, where they shut themselves away and stop talking to anyone. In most of the cases, parents are usually seen quiet, and they try to spend time alone.

Apart from the short-term effects, there may have some long-term effects too for the parents and children. The most common issue that a child or parents may face is social and behavioral change (Namkung et al., 2015). They may become antisocial, and try avoiding people for the rest of their lives (Afifi et al., 2015). The trust from the relationships starts getting weaker, and children are most likely do not trust any relation for the rest of their lives because, for them, a relation never lasts long.

References

Afifi, T. D., Granger, D. A., Joseph, A., Denes, A., & Aldeis, D. (2015). The influence of divorce and parents’ communication skills on adolescents’ and young adults’ stress reactivity and recovery. Communication Research, 42(7), 1009-1042.

Haimi, M., & Lerner, A. (2016). The impact of parental separation and divorce on the health status of children, and the ways to improve it. Journal of Clinical & Medical Genomics, 1-7.

Namkung, E. H., Song, J., Greenberg, J. S., Mailick, M. R., & Floyd, F. J. (2015). The relative risk of divorce in parents of children with developmental disabilities: impacts of lifelong parenting. American journal on intellectual and developmental disabilities, 120(6), 514-526.