Divorce severely damages people’s long-term health, even if they remarry, according to new research. The impact of marriage breakdown or the death of a spouse continues to have a “lingering, detrimental” effect on physical wellbeing because it affects the body’s immune system, says a study carried out at the University of Chicago and John Hopkins University, Baltimore. This is despite the fact someone may have moved on emotionally and found happiness in another relationship.

Interestingly, this latest research is somewhat at odds with another recent study, also carried out in the US, which found that women in tense marriages are prone to risk factors for heart disease, stroke and diabetes.

What I believe these seemingly conflicting pieces of research tell us is that people’s health and wellbeing can go either way in certain situations. While being happy and settled for a lengthy period of time is known to be conducive to good health, getting divorced doesn’t necessarily make you more prone to illness and depression. Quite the opposite, I contend. If you’ve been in an unhappy marriage for many years, divorce can have a liberating and rejuvenating effect on your emotions and your physical wellbeing.

Having been divorced myself, I can vouch for the fact that one’s psychological outlook is affected for a long time afterwards by the stress and emotional upheaval of marital breakdown. But I also know I’m happier – and, therefore, probably healthier – than if I’d stayed in a relationship that was emotionally damaging.

People’s attitude and support networks play a significant part in how effectively they recover and move on from divorce. Being consumed by self pity and low self-esteem isn’t the best way to rebuild your life; conversely, trying to gallop ahead without properly grieving can also be counter-productive to lasting contentment.

Although there is no such thing as an easy divorce, there are ways to minimise the damage it can cause, so if handled well – with the help of a good matrimonial lawyer, friends and family – it is certainly possible to come out the other side and enjoy a new life where the positives outweigh the negatives. And that, in the long run, has to be good for emotional and physical health.