You have probably heard people say that alcohol addiction can lead to divorce. It puts financial strain on the family, it leads to conflicts and it ends marriages.
That is true, but researchers finally dug a bit deeper into the statistics, noting that they were surprised how little people had actually studied this issue, considering how often it is cited. What they found is that heavy drinking and divorce only really link up when only one spouse is doing the drinking.
In the study, couples that did not drink got divorced about 30% of the time. The same was true for couples that drank heavily — where both people were involved. However, if only one person was a heavy drinker, that’s when the divorce rate nearly doubled, hitting about 50 percent. The highest rates of all were found when wives were heavy drinkers and husbands were not.
“Our results indicate that it is the difference between the couple’s drinking habits, rather than the drinking itself, that leads to marital dissatisfaction, separation, and divorce,” said a doctor who worked on the study. “Heavy drinking spouses may be more tolerant of negative experiences related to alcohol due to their own drinking habits.”
In this sense, drinking is no different than many other issues couples face: Wanting or not wanting children, working long hours, excessively spending money, etc. When they do not see things the same way, that’s when the trouble begins for the marriage.
Are some of these factors likely to end your own marriage? If so, be sure you know what legal steps you need to take.