Protecting yourself from the emotional trauma of divorce

A divorce can take its toll on your emotional health. The combination of stress, uncertainty and grief might begin a downward spiral of psychological trauma if you are not careful.

Recognizing how a life event as significant as divorce could affect you can help you prepare. Taking proactive steps to protect your emotional health can help you anticipate a brighter and happier future.

Maintain your dignity

The reasons for your divorce could include infidelity, conflicting beliefs, involvement in crime and irreconcilable differences among other reasons. Even when you feel upset with your ex or appalled at certain behaviors, your ability to keep your emotions under control will say a lot about your character.

Having integrity will help you maintain your dignity. Your reputation can help you avoid legal repercussions and put you in a good position for a satisfactory settlement. Additionally, you can focus your effort on recovering from divorce, setting boundaries and healing from trauma rather than expending energy on retaliation.

Set personal goals

Divorce can open the door to opportunities you did not even know existed. According to Psychology Today, research suggests it takes one to two years to recover from divorce. Prioritizing goal setting can help you feel excited about your future. Your goals may involve developments in your career, plans to travel, strategies to rebuild your finances or plans to return to school.

Setting goals and focusing on reaching them might take your mind off of the heavier aspects of your split. Having worthwhile aspirations to work toward could also improve your optimism and excitement for your life. Divorce can cause emotional trauma. However, your proactive response to the challenges can help you maintain control of your life as you recover.