{"id":12246,"date":"2018-10-12T06:41:36","date_gmt":"2018-10-12T13:41:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.heuermontage.com\/?p=12246"},"modified":"2018-10-12T06:41:36","modified_gmt":"2018-10-12T13:41:36","slug":"reality-check","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.heuermontage.com\/?p=12246","title":{"rendered":"Reality Check"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

This week’s report on one of the loveliest weddings I ever attended will conclude with a few observations.<\/p>\n

Observation #1: Everyone is a photographer now, although they all leave their cameras behind while on the dance floor…..<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Or they check on the images immediately….<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Observation # 2: I cry at weddings. Never mind that I know the political roots of the institution, the oppression it was associated with for many centuries and in many cultures. I am moved to pieces when I look at a happy couple, so full of hope for the future, and families merging, differences be damned.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Observation# 3: People always throw around these statistics that marriage improves your physical and mental health, assuming there is a causal relationship. It is indeed the case that compared to singles, married people live longer, have fewer strokes and heart attacks, recover faster from them if they get them, are likely to survive cancer longer, and have fewer incidence of mental health issues, particularly depression. But these findings have to be looked at with caution because they are largely correlational. That means any number of other factors could account for them.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

For one, there is a gender differential. Men profit from marriage much<\/em> more<\/em> than women do when it comes to health effects.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Secondly, people in unhappy, stressful marriages are way worse off than singles who have a good friendship support network.<\/p>\n

Third, people who have already compromised health might not get married in the first place, and so when they have worse outcomes for coronary diseases it is because of their original health status, not their married life. Isolation leads to depression, and it is the absence of any partner\/family network rather than the marriage status that might account for higher rates of depression in singles.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The health advantages of marriage<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n