All romantic relationships come to an end at some point.
Whether it occurs through the death of a partner or, more likely, because one or both partners in the relationship decide to end things and move on to new relationships. Through the course of a normal human lifespan, we will enter and exit a whole series of romantic relationships depending on what stage we happen to be in our lives. Through everyone hopes to form a lifelong pair bond, there are usually going to be "trial" relationships along the way in which we acquire the intimacy skills that will be needed to maintain a long-term relationship.
All too frequently however, even relationships that we hoped would be "for life" come to an end as well and the emotional devastation this can produce can take years to overcome. Depending on which statistics you look at, the odds of a marriage ending in divorce can range from one-third to one half for first-time marriages. Even couples who decide to live together before marrying don't seem to fare any better in terms of long-term relationship success.
To read more, check out my new Psychology Today blog post.
Comments