The good news is that walking down the aisle may be good for your health, both mental and physical, and help you live longer – but the bad news is that it may put a damper on your sex life.
First, the good news: A study of information on over 80,000 Americans found that people who have never married are more likely to die – at all stages of their lives – than those who are married.
University of California researchers Robert M. Kaplan, PhD, and Richard G Kronick, PhD, found that never being married carried a greater risk of having poor health than those who were divorced or widowed and the "never-married penalty" applies to both men and women.
Those who never married were five times more likely to die of an infectious disease, twice as likely to die in accidents, suicides or homicides, and 38 percent more likely to die of heart disease than those who had been married. They concluded that the risks of never being married are similar to the risks associated with having high blood pressure or elevated cholesterol levels.
Kaplan and Kronick imply that those who never married live more isolated lives and don't have the support system that may include children, something that divorced or widowed people often enjoy.
A new study at Ohio State University found that getting married boosts mental health, especially if you're depressed.
Researchers measured the depression levels, such as feelings of sadness and the inability to sleep of over 3,000 people before and after their first marriage. They were surprised to find that the symptoms of depressed people dramatically decreased after marriage.
"We actually found the opposite of what we expected," said Adrianne Frech, who helped conduct the study and found that "Just mattering to someone else can help alleviate symptoms of depression."
Unfortunately, the marriage partner of a depressed person doesn't get a similar boost in mental health. Those who were happy before marriage and end up in a marriage fraught with conflict and distance – hallmarks of a depressed person – might be better off remaining single.
Now the bad news: Although increased mental and physical health can be benefits of marriage, a recent study found that once a woman is in a secure relationship, her sex drive tanks.
Researchers from Germany's Hamburg-Eppendorf University studied the relationships of 530 men and women. In the beginning of a relationship, 60 percent of thirty-year-old women wanted sex "often," but within four years the percentage had dropped to 50 percent. After twenty years, it had slipped to 20 percent.
Men's libido, however, remained the same with 60 percent to 80 percent of the men wanting regular sex regardless of the length of the relationship.
The reason is evolution, says Dr. Dietrich Klusmann, psychologist and lead author of the study. For men, their sexual motivation to remain constant could be to guard against being cuckolded by another male. However, women's sex drive is high at the beginning of a relationship when she's forming a "pair bond" with her partner. Once the bond is solid, her sex drive declines.
Another reason could be that when the woman limits the amount of sex, the male's interest may increase. "The rational for why a woman's sex drive declines may be down to supply and demand," said evolutionary professor George Fieldman. "If something is in infinite supply, the perceived value would drop."
Sources: BBC, Medscape, Reuters
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