Break-ups in marriage are more common in modern society. What are the possible causes of these breakups? Mental health contributes to family breaking up.
In this article, we shall elaborate on how your mental health may affect your family, children and future generation.
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What is mental health?
This is the state of well-being of an individual that helps a person realize his/her potential while coping with the normal stress of life. When people meet and decide to live together they have to be physically and mentally sound to run the institution of marriage. When we talk about mental health we look at the mindset and emotions.
Mindset means what we believe in each other. How does a person view the other? For example, how are women in your society expected to behave and their roles and duties? What is your expectation of her and vice versa?
Emotions mean how we feel when we are upset and how we behave as a result. What is it that upsets us so much until it dictates our behavior towards each other?
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Does mental health direct our actions?
The answer is yes. Our mental health will direct how we treat our spouses. Our emotions will direct how we behave towards our spouses. It is a contributing factor to break-ups in marriage.
Does mental health contribute to break-ups in marriage?
Yes, most people who pursue marriage don’t necessarily pursue wisdom in marriage. People don’t know that they are emotionally sick until they commit a crime. Most people have been wounded emotionally in the past and never pursued healing. Most people enter into marriage in the same state they left their break up hence not mentally sound to handle marriage.
Other people were raised in abusive homes and hence mentally not fit to handle relationships. Most people have various personality disorders that are dangerous because of their upbringing. A person raised by narcissistic parents will raise a psychopathic son and a sociopath of a daughter with other disorders. These kinds of disorders are responsible for violence in marriages and high rates of divorce.
Read also: How to eradicate gender-based violence in Kenya.
What should we do to reverse the vice?
Before entering into marriage people should ensure that they are mentally sound to handle the challenges that come in marriage. People should test themselves on how they handle their emotions before committing to marriage.
Wisdom in marriage should be taken as seriously as other wisdom. Just like the way nobody enters a career without training people need to be trained about relationships. We have relationship couches to take care of that.
People with a high rate of breakups should seek help from psychiatrists and health care providers before engaging in marriages. Those who are already married should together seek medical interventions. Mental health should be taken seriously by all Kenyans.