Divorce

What caught my attention during this week was the subject divorce. I think it means a lot to me because I’m married and also I’ve seen too many friends and family going through this situation.

Our book states that United States is ranking third in divorce compared to other countries. Surprisingly, it’s very hard to find accurate data about divorce around the world. That happens because most countries don’t report data at the time that UN or other organization are creating the reports. But what I consistently found in my searches is that U.S is ranking as the first in divorce, and that divorce, as an overall, increased around the world throughout years; another intriguing information is that divorce is increasing also among homosexual couples.

To this point, I think it’s safe to state that divorce is pandemic, but why? Our book describes the main reasons as macro level social issues, demographic variables, and interpersonal problems, but warns to use carefully predictive models as they don’t cover all complexities involved in the divorce process.

I personally think that, ultimately, it is because we are getting more and more selfish – exceptions for cases of abuse, drugs and mental disorders. Most of my friends and family that got divorced was due to difference of interest. Each one had a different “need” that was not covered and they felt the other part was just too selfish or incapable of fulfilling that. I guess marriage became another product in the shelf; if you are not satisfied just return the product and get a new one - according to the American Psychological Association, around 50% of married couples in U.S divorce. Consumerism mentality has magnified this intrinsic selfishness, making it almost impossible for us to maintain a deep, long lasting and intimate relationship with another human being, in my opinion.