Retired Man Syndrome

Well this is tragic. According to a new report, the time in our lives that you’d expect would be the least stressful, when you and your partner eventually retire so that you can enjoy some time together, with all that hard work behind you, hopefully with a few quid in the bank, is scientifically proven to send our stress levels soaring. Fantastic.

Interestingly, as per The Telegraph, this study suggests that it’s us women who wind up suffering from something known as ‘Retired Husband Syndrome’ which increases with each passing year that our other halves spend at home. Apparently, it’s all ahead of us.

This, you’ll be glad to know, is a study that has more of a bearing on societies still operating with very traditional gender roles, and in fact, the research was carried out in Japan over a 5 year period. However, the Italian scientists who carried out the research suggest that the same theories can be applied to Western countries, which isn’t exactly setting our pulses racing on this Thursday afternoon.

?We have found that retirement effects are stronger for employed women, who are already stressed by their job and have less time to comply with the additional requests by their retired husbands.?

?After a life apart and progressive estrangement, many Japanese couples are forced to start spending time together when the husband retires.?This can be a very stressful experience for wives, who suddenly have to face the continuous presence of a stranger in the house and the additional burden of his requests.?

Do you think this study will have any bearing on our experience of retirement here in Ireland?

Will Irish men be equally as plagued with ‘retired woman syndrome’ in the same way women in Japan are suffering?

While a nice idea, and a chance to enjoy each other’s company after building a life together, is retirement a bad idea? We love what we do for a living here in IMAGE hq, but we’re not quite sure we could stomach the idea of waking up to our alarm every Monday ’til we shake off this mortal coil, so as far as we’re concerned, we think we’ll take the risk.

Caroline Foran @carolineforan