Divorce can be an extremely stressful process without a lawyer on your side, whether you have an uncontested or a contested divorce. To be sure, even in situations where spouses generally agree on terms, you are still dealing with the dissolution of the marriage and the loss of a relationship, and if children are involved a whole new family organization. For some people, divorce is the most stressful event they may ever experience, and adding any additional stress can make you emotionally and physically ill and affect the outcome your are planning and hoping to achieve in the end of the divorce. To be sure, “dozens of studies show that stress compromises the immune system,” and as such, “the more stressful the divorce, the more likely it is that illness will follow.”
To be clear, it is best to do everything you can to limit the stress associated with your divorce inasmuch as possible. When you fail to hire a Georgia divorce lawyer and file your own divorce, you can experience increased stress that can have long-term consequences, because it is all on you. You have other obligations to work, children, family, friends, groups, organizations, or a church. Life does not stop in its tracks while you are dealing with the divorce process. You still need to work, eat, sleep, and find time to do what lifts your spirits and reminds you what is most important in your life.
The Harms of Stress
If you decide to file your own divorce, you will not have dedicated counsel on your side to assist with the many tasks involved in a divorce and complications of Georgia divorce law, such as certain filing requirements, property distribution issues and valuations, child support orders, child custody matters, and other important factors in your divorce. When you do not have counsel on your side, it can be extremely anxiety-inducing to attempt to understand how the laws work on your own and to ensure that you are providing the best possible evidence in your case, all the while keeping everything else you normally have to do or want to do.
On top of the stress associated with attempts to understand Georgia divorce law and to take all the required steps in your case, increased stress can further hinder your ability to focus on the task at hand. According to an article in Time Magazine, “stress affects emotional intelligence.” Indeed, the article says that stress can impact a person’s ability to do any and all of the following (all of which could be essential in handling a divorce case):
- Hinder your decision-making skills;
- Render you too impulsive when you are making decisions;
- Force you into making mistakes that you would not make otherwise;
- Lead you to ignore certain behavioral or verbal cues from other people;
- Interfere with your relationships with children, colleagues, friends, family members, and others who are part of a necessary support system during a divorce; and
- Lower your productivity level.
In other words, increased stress can prevent you from focusing and can ultimately lower your productivity levels, leading you to make mistakes in the work or efforts you are expected to complete for your divorce case to be successful. Why deal with increased stress during your divorce when you could limit your anxieties by working with a capable, experienced Georgia divorce lawyer?
How a Georgia Divorce Lawyer Can Help
Ultimately, increased stress is only one of the reasons why you shouldn’t file your own divorce. When you work with a capable Georgia divorce lawyer, you can avoid increased stress that can harm your health. As we mentioned above, when you experience stress, it can affect your immune system and can limit your ability to stay healthy. By hiring counsel, you can ensure that you have an advocate to handle all of the legal matters associated with your divorce, which opens up a much more of your time and intellectual space for you to manage your daily tasks involved with work, children, friends, family, groups/ organizations, church, and of course your health needs.
At Mitchell & Crunk, this is on our mind for our clients. We have taken the time to form relationships with counselors and therapists to help deal the stress and emotions involved during divorce. We also have taken time to form relationships with massage therapists, spas, gun ranges, travel agents, life coaches, and other forms of good and healthy distractions and “fun therapy” to help manage the stress levels during your divorce.