8 Steps to Reduce Stress in Divorce

Often people find themselves in this unfamiliar situation without any choice of their own. So it’s important to take some time out for yourself and get to grips with your separation and divorce. Giving yourself time will also help you to identify the factors that you’re finding the most stressful, for example being left without financial support. Once you have identified these factors, you can then take steps to eliminate then, such as getting a Financial Order to make sure you’re financially protected.

Keeping a journal where you can write down all your thoughts and feelings could help you to release all the negative thoughts that are trapped in your head. This means you can shift some of those stressful feelings, especially if you’re honest with yourself.

Feelings of stress and upset may keep you up until the early hours of the morning, but one of the key ways to decrease stress is by getting between 7 to 9 hours of sleep a night. If you don’t get enough sleep, you’ll feel mentally and physically drained and not enough rest can negatively affect your mood. Trying to keep a positive mental attitude will help you to see your divorce as an opportunity for a new beginning, and getting lots of rest will help you with this.

It can be easy to fall into the ‘pitfall’ of comfort eating, and drinking alcohol to make the feelings of upset temporarily go away. It’s important not to beat yourself up about this but make sure it doesn’t become a habit because these things can affect your mood and dehydrate you. And one of the main ways to reduce stress is to stay hydrated because this will reduce feelings of tiredness. Studies have also found that exercising releases positive hormones, which will boost your mood. But if you’re not feeling up to it, long walks can soothe and calm your mind, so you can think clearly and constructively.

Bottling up feelings of distress will make you feel worse and it’s important to tend to your emotional needs as well as your physical needs. So speaking to your family and friends might make you feel better about your entire situation. If you can’t speak to family or friends, then why not arrange an appointment with a professional, such as a counsellor?

With divorce comes a lot of change and so you may find it helpful to make a list of all the things that you want to achieve. It’s important to be realistic when thinking about what you want the outcome of your divorce to be, or you might end up fighting a losing battle that will make you feel worse. Regularly looking at your expectations and updating your checklists will make you feel in control and calmer about your divorce and all that comes with it.

When you start your divorce, you might understandably want to know what your financial rights are and what you’re entitled to. But this will be different for each couple, so make an appointment with a Divorce Solicitor to put your mind at ease and answer your questions about all aspects of the divorce process. By getting the answers you want, you will gain clarity and feel certain about what will happen with your children and your finances and what your future will look like.

It is so important for you to speak to a Divorce Solicitor about any queries you have throughout the divorce process, rather than getting information online (fake news?) or anecdotally through friends. This is because every divorce case is different so only a Divorce Solicitor working with you on your case can give you the correct information and the answers you need.