It is always helpful when our personal failures mirror social trends. Collective guilt and pain are easier to deal with.
Recently, there has been a great deal of media attention paid to "eggshell marriages" and a significant increase in the divorce rate of couples in their fifties or beyond. This, of course, relates to the period after child rearing has ended, leaving the couple on their own once again.
While I would never criticize the decision of a couple to divorce, I do feel that relationship problems later in life often stem from spending too much time together. In many ways, this habit reinforces our differences and may deprive one another of activities that they personally enjoy, including engagement with friends who share those interests. Then again, being part of a social trend may have its own psychological benefits.
