What is the divorce rate for PTSD?

Asked by: Arden Hackett  |  Last update: October 9, 2025
Score: 4.3/5 (51 votes)

Unfortunately, once PTSD enters the relationship only about 3 out of 10 marriages will survive long term. Soldiers suffering from PTSD experience flashbacks, anxiety, and combative or protective behavior. PTSD affects not only the soldier but their loved ones as well.

What is the divorce rate for people with PTSD?

What's the PTSD Divorce Rate? PTSD takes a toll on many marriages, and the PTSD divorce rate is generally high. For instance, a 2005 Pentagon study showed that the divorce rate among Iraq and Afghanistan veterans with PTSD rose to 78%.

What mental illness has the highest divorce rate?

Three disorders, specific phobia, major depression, and alcohol abuse, are associated with the largest population attributable risk proportions for both marriage and divorce.

Can PTSD cause divorce?

PTSD can significantly contribute to relationship problems that lead to divorce. It is challenging to resume daily life and have a normal relationship after experiencing a trauma that just won't let go of you.

Can someone with PTSD have a healthy relationship?

Also, many people with PTSD do not have relationship problems. People with PTSD can create and maintain good relationships by: Building a personal support network to help cope with PTSD while working on family and friend relationships. Sharing feelings honestly and openly, with respect and compassion.

Because of the PTSD, I went through two divorces.

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Is it hard to be married to someone with PTSD?

PTSD may affect how couples get along with each other. For partners, PTSD may also lead to more time and stress from giving care. Learn more about research with Veteran couples and help available for Veteran families. PTSD can affect how couples get along with each other.

Is it worth dating someone with PTSD?

However, learning about PTSD and finding the right support system promotes positive growth for you, your partner, and your relationship. It's possible to create a healthy relationship with someone living with PTSD, and like all relationships, patience, understanding, compassion, and clear communication are key.

What does PTSD look like in a marriage?

Possible Symptoms of Relationship PTSD

Avoiding places, events, or objects if they remind you of the traumatic situation. For example, avoiding driving a car if the traumatic event was a car accident. Avoiding thoughts or feelings related to the traumatic event.

What is traumatic divorce?

This means that in some cases, those who experience divorce could experience similar symptoms to those who have experienced military combat, natural disasters, rape, or other life-threatening events. Post-Dissolution PTSD.

How does a person with PTSD behave?

People with PTSD have intense, disturbing thoughts and feelings related to their experience that last long after the traumatic event has ended. They may relive the event through flashbacks or nightmares; they may feel sadness, fear or anger; and they may feel detached or estranged from other people.

What is the #1 cause divorce?

The most commonly reported major contributors to divorce were lack of commitment, infidelity, and conflict/arguing. The most common “final straw” reasons were infidelity, domestic violence, and substance use. More participants blamed their partners than blamed themselves for the divorce.

What is the hardest mental illness to live with?

What Is the Hardest Mental Illness to Live With?
  • Schizophrenia.
  • Severe Bipolar Disorder.
  • Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD)
  • Major Depression and Treatment-Resistant Depression.
  • Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
  • Eating Disorders.
  • Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
  • So, What is the hardest mental illness to live with?

Which personality trait is a strong predictor of divorce?

While all relationships experience ups and downs, individuals with high levels of neuroticism are more prone to interpreting those ups and downs in negative and damaging ways. Here are two reasons why high levels of neuroticism often signal the end of a marriage, according to research.

Who suffers from PTSD the most?

About 5 out of every 100 adults (or 5%) in the U.S. has PTSD in any given year. In 2020, about 13 million Americans had PTSD. Women are more likely to develop PTSD than men. About 8 of every 100 women (or 8%) and 4 of every 100 men (or 4%) will have PTSD at some point in their life.

Is divorce more traumatic than death?

These days, I am not alone in affirming for clients that the stress and grief of divorce is more complicated and more difficult on an individual than the death of a spouse. Every change is a stressor. Even positive changes like the addition of a child to a family or a new job are stressors.

How hard is it to live with PTSD?

PTSD makes it hard to do everyday things and this may lead to unmet family needs. Partners and children may feel more stress and talking to one another may be tough. This section includes information about the effects of PTSD on families, children and relationships. There are also tips to help cope with challenges.

At what age is divorce less traumatic?

Teenagers and divorce (13 to 18 years old)

Teenagers can understand what divorce is. Some even show signs of relief that they no longer have to hear their parents argue. It's common for them to just want to move on with their lives.

Can a marriage survive trauma?

The overwhelming majority of these couples are able to band together in their grief and emerge with an even stronger relationship. One of the biggest hurdles couples face is that no two people respond to trauma in the same way. And just as trauma manifests differently in each person, recovery is unique to each as well.

How long does divorce anxiety last?

Most people suffer mental health symptoms during and after a divorce, for a year or two. Typically, it takes that long to adjust to your new life after the divorce is over.

Can people with PTSD feel love?

This is not to say a survivor can't feel a strong bond of love or friendship, they certainly can. However, a close relationship can feel scary or dangerous at times, to a trauma survivor.

What are the 17 symptoms of complex PTSD?

What Are the 17 Symptoms of Complex PTSD?
  • Flashbacks.
  • Memory lapses.
  • Distorted sense of self.
  • Inability to control your emotions.
  • Hyperarousal.
  • Unexplained upset stomach.
  • Sleep disturbances.
  • Challenged interpersonal relationships.

How do PTSD victims feel?

Negative changes in thinking and mood

Ongoing negative emotions of fear, blame, guilt, anger or shame. Memory problems, including not remembering important aspects of a traumatic event. Feeling detached from family and friends.

Does PTSD affect intimacy?

PTSD makes it difcult to have close relationships. It can also make it hard to have an active sex life or enjoy intimacy. Sexual problems are common in people with PTSD, regardless of the type of trauma experienced.

What not to do to someone with PTSD?

Don't:
  1. Give easy answers or blithely tell your loved one everything is going to be okay.
  2. Stop your loved one from talking about their feelings or fears.
  3. Offer unsolicited advice or tell your loved one what they “should” do.
  4. Blame all of your relationship or family problems on your loved one's PTSD.

What happens when you yell at someone with PTSD?

Yelling can serve as a powerful trigger for individuals with PTSD, reigniting their traumatic memories and plunging them into a state of overwhelming distress. The aggressive and forceful nature of yelling can mimic the threatening and dangerous situations that caused their PTSD in the first place.