Why do some parents stay together when they are clearly not happy?
35 Answers
Last Updated: 06/28/2021 at 6:11pm
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Alex DS Ellis, MA, LMFT
Marriage & Family Therapist
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Top Rated Answers
Anonymous
May 2nd, 2015 9:17pm
Because of their children and because they think staying together would be easier or would make the children happier than if they divorced..
Anonymous
April 24th, 2015 8:22am
because of their children, parents love their children and they dont want to ruin their childhood. it really hard to live with single parent...
I feel as some parents stay together when they are not happy because they married each other for a reason. They want to work out the kinks in the relationship versus throwing it away for a period of being unhappy because they would be more unhappy if they were not together.
Usually to support the kid, though they don't realize the negative impact and example they are giving their kid by fighting and staying unhappy. It is much worse than splitting up. Another reason might be that they're holding on to whatever love they still have and wanting to believe they still belong together... or just not wanting to go through the divorce process. It can be for so many reasons, but these are particularly common.
Change (even if it is for the better) is hard. Leaving your spouse means big change. Some parents also stay together for the sake of their children.
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