5 year marriage dissolving is not that shocking. Even the stats say it occurs mainly in the less than 10yr crowd |
Being in your 40s and 50s and not knowing any divorces is nuts to me. I know very few divorces among close friends or family (one of each) but tons and tons of divorces among my broader friend circle, neighbors, and colleagues.
I don't think divorce is inevitable but I've been surprised by enough divorce announcements not to assume it's an impossibility. |
1. Growing apart over the years
2. Sexless marriage 3. Alcohol |
Surely it's much higher, if close to half of first marriages do, and close to 70% (more or less) of second and third marriages do? |
It was completely out of the blue. Acted like everything great. At all family functions, talking about future, having kids —-then just stopped talking, and gave papers. Really bizarre. |
Among our UMC immigrants professional crowd with 20+ year marriages with 2+ kids, divorces aren't common at all. |
Amongst our 50yr old friends and town, the main factor is the men having mid-life crisis affairs |
In our neighborhood, it was 45-50 year old women having affairs. Perhaps with the men in your neighborhood … |
Probably 75% of the people we know are still married to their first spouse. 40-50, mostly married 15-20 years.
Of the ones that are not, the common themes are lack of family support and significant mental health issues in one or both spouses. And nearly all of the re-marriages have failed. |
I’m 40 and an atheist. Out of my close married friends and married family members (parents, siblings, aunts/uncles, first cousins) there are no divorces. This is out of 25+ couples. |
Marriage |
My divorce reasons after more than two decades:
1. Growing apart 2. No sex (I never once turned him down) 3. Kids grown, did not want to spend the future in the marriage |
Don't forget Gottman's Four Horsemen.
https://www.gottman.com/blog/the-6-things-that-predict-divorce/ https://www.gottman.com/blog/this-one-thing-is-the-biggest-predictor-of-divorce/#:~:text=After%20watching%20thousands%20of%20couples,contempt%2C%20defensiveness%2C%20and%20stonewalling These articles may seem far fetched to some, and they don't match up well to the DCUM theories, but Gottman captures why my marriage failed very well. My spouse expressed contempt for me frequently. By the time my spouse finally claimed a desire to change, it was too late. I was too angry and had too many bitter memories. My spouse's desire to change also seemed like little more than a convenient response to my announcement that we were done. |