14 DAY TRIAL // It is for real, scientifically proved! Contrary to most of the beliefs that marriage can eventually lead to an unhappy, gloomy and stressed emotional background, saying "I do" was found to brighten up one's whole life and improve his/her mental health.
Previous studies which also supported long-term marriage and social steadiness found that being married and having a family considerably prolongs life span and prevents severe diseases, such as cardiovascular ones. But if previous researches had been mostly concerned with older people, the present study analyzed individuals of all ages, races, educational, social and material rank.
Scientists at the Ohio State University, US, have investigated the files and medical data of more than 3,000 individuals from the National Survey of Families and Households. The survey contained data from 2 interviews performed on US citizens in 1987-88 and again in 1992-94.
The 3,000 people investigated by scientists at the Ohio State University were single in the first interview and married during the second one. If in 1987-88 subjects frequently complained they suffered from unexplainable blues and distress, in 1992-94, after getting married, the same individuals were found to have more cheerful, optimist emotional states.
PhD Sociology Student Adrianne Frech at the Ohio State University and co-author of the study pointed out: "We actually found the opposite of what we expected. We thought depressed people would be less likely to benefit from marriage because the depression of one spouse can put a strain on the marriage and undermine marital quality."
"If you start out happy, you don't have as far to go. But also, depressed people may just be especially in need of the intimacy, the emotional closeness, and the social support that marriage can provide. Marriage may give depressed people a greater sense that they matter to someone, while people who weren't depressed prior to marriage may have always thought that way. We can't focus just on average effects of marriage on well-being. As this study shows, there is a great deal of variability in the benefits of marriage," added the other co-leader of the study, Kristi Williams, assistant professor of Sociology at Ohio State University.