THE PRESENCE OF PSYCHIATRIC CONSULTATIONS IN RELATION TO DIVORCE

In this study all couples who during a period of 1 year were divorced at a Swedish district court, and who had children living at home, were examined for psychiatric consultations before, during and after the d ivorce period. Psychiatric consultation was defined as having a psychi atric record at the only psychiatric clinic in the catchment area. The divorced couples were compared with a matched group of married people . The results showed that there was a 4.1-fold higher risk for divorce d men and a 2.5-fold higher risk for divorced women of acquiring a psy chiatric record. The increased rate of psychiatric consultations was e vident before as well as after the divorce period, but was most striki ng during the divorce period. A greater proportion of men than women s tarted and continued to experience their psychiatric problems before a nd during the divorce period, while women more often started and conti nued to experience their psychiatric problems during the divorce perio d and afterwards.