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.” Source