Motherhood and Marriage: Pathways to Psychiatric Breakdowns?

Filed in archive Studies on January 23, 2007

Not sure if you have read it here (or in my other blogs): I am a single mom to a 4-year-old boy. I was never married and I am not living with a partner and neither did I live together with my son's father (not even for a single day).

If you didn't, now you know.

While I am happier at the current situation, I cannot deny the fact that single parenthood can just drive you nuts in many different ways, big and small.

Why the personal introduction? Been trying to pass up but couldn't on this article on a new study from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH).

The study highlights differing rates of psychiatric and substance use disorders between single and married mothers over a 12-month period:

• previously married mothers had higher rates of depressive disorders and alcohol abuse compared to married or never-married mothers.


• previously married mothers had higher rates of mental illness, when compared to currently married mothers.


• single mothers who were never married and married mothers have similar prevalence rates of psychiatric and substance use disorders.

[These rates were generally lower than the illness rates among women who experience a disruption in their marriage.]

According to Dr. John Cairney, Canada Research Chair, and Research Scientist in CAMH's Health Systems Research Consulting Unit:

"This pattern of results suggests that divorced or separated women with children are at greater risk for psychiatric and substance use disorders.

Although the increased risk for psychiatric disorder among single mothers is well established, this study enhances our understanding by examining how the pathway to single-motherhood impacts Mental health."

There are many reasons why I love not ever getting married and the best of them all is I need not suffer the effects of divorce or separation.

Just to prove that each single parent is different, I may be a little nuts at times but my alcohol consumption is close to nil since I became a mother. (Alcohol is the only substance anyway that I came close to abusing in my pre-motherhood days).

As to clinical depression, I agree that single mothers (whether never married or previously married) are most prone to them. LOTS of close emotional support from family and friends are what they need most to prevent them from such a condition.