4 Unexpected Lifestyle Factors That May Increase the Likelihood of Divorce

Certain lifestyle choices are not conducive to a healthy and strong relationship. When spouses are prone to cheating, abusive behavior, or battling addictions (alcohol, drugs, gambling, etc.), for instance, things do not bode well for the longevity of their marriage.

Nevertheless, there may be less obvious lifestyle factors impacting your relationship without your knowledge. If you’re not aware of these harmful behaviors, or you fail to make changes when you know they’re affecting things, you stand to put your marriage on the line.

With that in mind, here are a few less common lifestyle factors you should be aware of:

1. Taking Your Spouse for Granted

Once the vows are spoken, and the rings are on your fingers, you may feel secure enough in your relationship to focus on other things.

Modern life, however, is a busy affair. Between work, raising a family, managing a household, and meeting other obligations, or some combination thereof, it’s easy to forget to put time and effort into nurturing your relationship, unintentionally leaving the stability of your marriage low on your list of priorities.

In any case, we all want to feel seen, loved, and appreciated for our efforts at the end of the day, and when spouses take each other for granted, small feelings of hurt and resentment can build up, eventually leading to much greater problems.

2. Excessive Travel

Though something like excessive travel can be lumped into the above factor as a means of prioritizing something like work over your marriage, it deserves its own particular mention. Many relationships are built on the physical closeness of their partners, so when one of you is not around, the other may feel lonely, even abandoned, and that’s exactly why long-distance relationships are so notoriously difficult to maintain.

3. Speaking Different Love Languages

Love languages define how people prefer to express and display their affection. Some people crave quality time with their loved ones, for instance, while others thrive on compliments and recognition; some feel loved when they receive gifts or see that their partner is doing something that shows they are thinking about them, and others choose to give and receive their love through physical touch. When couples fail to understand each other’s love languages, their relationship is likely to suffer.

4. Lack of Intimacy

The trouble with intimacy is that, like with love languages, it means different things to different people. While it’s not absolute that men crave physical intimacy and women lean more toward emotional intimacy, the strongest relationships tend to balance the two, and not being intimate with one another can cause a rift in an otherwise long-lasting relationship.

Compassionate Support Through Your Divorce

When couples fail to prioritize the marriage, take each other for granted, ignore different love languages, and neglect intimacy, feelings of love and trust can fade, leading to unhappiness and — after enough time and tension — divorce.

If you’re going through a difficult divorce and you need legal support and guidance, the compassionate and capable team at Gucciardo Family Law can help. Contact us to schedule a free consultation with a Michigan divorce lawyer.