"When doctors ignore the evidence showing that a support system doesn’t have to be traditional in order to be effective, that’s not a medical judgment. It’s a personal prejudice that puts singles at serious risk.

Classifying patients as married or unmarried when studying the effects of social support undoubtedly makes research easier, with groups determined by a simplistic either-or. But since social support is not, in fact, limited to marriage, the results of such studies are bound to be flawed — not to mention perpetuating discriminatory treatment that can cost single people our lives."

Joan DelFattore is a writer.

She shares her story and discusses her KevinMD article, "Patients without partners, and the doctors who stereotype us." (https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2016/11/patients-without-partners-doctors-stereotype-us.html)