Divorce Stress Syndrome: A comprehensive review of divorce: its causes, consequences, and conclusions — drawing upon the lessons of 100 celebrities and others

Dr. David E. Pastrana
Abruzzi Press (2011)
ISBN 9780578090832
Reviewed by Olivera Baumgartner-Jackson for Reader Views (9/11) 

When I received “Divorce Stress Syndrome,” I immediately called my husband to advise him about the presence of this particular book on my desk. With so many people divorcing all around us, I certainly did not want to risk him having a heart attack after seeing the title and thinking that we were possibly next. After all, as the author states in the introduction to this witty tome, 55 percent of first marriages, 67 percent of second marriages and 74 percent of third marriages end up in divorce.

So why, since I am not divorced nor divorcing, would I even read a book called “Divorce Stress Syndrome”? Well, first and foremost, I would like to keep out of the above mentioned statistics, and the more one knows, the easier it should be to avoid the pitfalls. And secondly, the factor which made me not only pick up this book, but actually finish it, was that reading it was a real delight. Let me start with the author’s unique perspective - both as a trained professional (lawyer–and professor) and as somebody who has divorced twice, he obviously speaks with a lot of authority. For somebody so well versed in this subject, it would have been all too easy for him to slip into “know-it-all” or preachy mode, or to make it sound so convoluted that few people could – or would want to – read it, but he deftly managed to keep the content approachable, easy to relate to and decidedly fresh. His oftentimes tongue-in-cheek style of humor was a welcome break in the otherwise rather somber topic, as were the references to many actors, celebrities, CEOs, politicians and other famous individuals who either ended divorced or got really close to a divorce.

“Divorce Stress Syndrome” is a very comprehensive resource for all issues surrounding the complexity of a divorce, from those which happened before it and likely contributed to it, to the technicalities of the process itself and on to the scary “new” world a divorced individual faces as a newly single-again person. It makes it abundantly clear that divorce is a process, that sometimes it can be halted and reversed, but only if both parties truly desire to resolve the underlying issues; and that sometimes things are irretrievably broken and no amount of wishing will repair the relationship. It also stresses that one should not rush into a new relationship too fast, since time to reflect and heal is a necessity. Most importantly, in my opinion, it teaches how to keep one’s dignity and maintain sanity during a truly difficult and challenging time in one’s life.

In spite of its title, I would recommend “Divorce Stress Syndrome” to a wide range of people, not just the freshly divorced ones. If you are in a relationship and thinking about taking the next step, this book just might point out some areas to consider before doing so. If you are married and facing tough times, it could well put things in perspective for you. If you are in the process of divorcing, it will remind you to dot the i's and cross the t's. And most importantly, its abundance of information, humor and slight irony are plain good reading.

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