WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - People in long-term relationships often share certain health traits, and new research shows this can include mental health conditions.
An international team studied over 6 million couples from Taiwan, Denmark, and Sweden. They found that partners were more likely to have the same psychiatric disorders than what would normally happen by chance. These conditions included schizophrenia, ADHD, depression, autism, anxiety, bipolar disorder, OCD, substance abuse, and anorexia.
The study revealed that people with mental health conditions are more likely to marry someone who also has a mental illness, often the same one. This trend has become stronger over the decades, especially among couples born between the 1930s and 1990s.
The researchers were unable to confirm exactly why this happens. One reason may be convergence, where partners become more similar over time due to shared experiences and environments. Another factor could be social stigma, which limits dating options for people with psychiatric conditions, making them more likely to find partners with similar struggles.
The study also found that children with two parents who have the same mental health condition are twice as likely to develop it compared to children with only one affected parent.
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