The Guardian

If you're in a bad marriage, don't try to mend it – end it | Nichi Hodgson

Research shows the impact of unhappy marriages on health. Sometimes it’s better to walk away than to stay
‘Calling time on a relationship where one party simply isn’t in love with the other would be, in the eyes of many a therapist, a successful negotiation out of marriage.’ Photograph: vgajic/Getty Images

“Mend it, don’t end it” has long been the conservative mantra governing many a struggling marriage. But now, the research we’ve long needed to shoot a cupid’s arrow through the stultifying notion that any marriage is better than none is here.

has confirmed what the emotionally astute among us have always suspected: that constant strife does not lead to a happy life – and that sisyphean arguments about core issues such as children, money, in-laws and leisure activities all negatively activate the release

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