Don't give into societal pressure to get married--new studies suggests marriage is a mixed health bag.

Is Marriage Good for Your Health?

By TARA PARKER-POPE
Published: April 12, 2010

...

Several new studies, for instance, show that the marriage advantage doesn’t extend to those in troubled relationships, which can leave a person far less healthy than if he or she had never married at all. One recent study suggests that a stressful marriage can be as bad for the heart as a regular smoking habit. And despite years of research suggesting that single people have poorer health than those who marry, a major study released last year concluded that single people who have never married have better health than those who married and then divorced.

via nytimes.com

I'm not trying to say no one should get married--I'm just saying we should all make the choice for ourselves and not think of marriage as something that *should* be done in our lives. Half of all marriages end in divorce--that means the troubled marriages mentioned in the article are VERY common. So, think about that the next time you're making long term plans for the future and don't assume that one social size fits all.

Posted via web from thepete's posterous