A new protocol by divorce coach Karen McNenny suggests the intervention can safely dissolve a union, though public health officials warn the practice’s long-term efficacy remains largely anecdotal.
In her recently published framework, McNenny categorizes divorce as a “tool, not a weapon,” a clinical distinction that has drawn immediate scrutiny from the medical community. While preliminary data suggests a high correlation between filing the recommended legal paperwork and no longer living in the same primary residence, researchers at the National Institutes of Health stress that current studies fail to adequately control for confounding variables, such as one partner simply abandoning the household.
We are seeing a concerning number of couples self-administering a divorce without proper observation, relying entirely on self-reported symptoms of irreconcilable misery.
The CDC has issued tentative guidance acknowledging McNenny’s claim that a healthy separation is theoretically possible in highly controlled environments. However, a recent meta-analysis in a JAMA psychiatry journal indicates the procedure carries severe risk factors, including acute alimony, chronic co-parenting logistics, and a statistically significant likelihood of purchasing a moderately priced condominium.
Until a double-blind trial can conclusively prove that the control group didn't just stay together out of spite, federal regulators advise couples to limit their dosage of marital dissolution to the lowest effective amount.