How Do You Know When a Marriage Is Over?

When a marriage becomes unrecognizable from what it once was, it may be time to end things. Marriages do evolve with time, and no marriage is one long blissful honeymoon. However, when you begin to lose pieces of the core makeup of your marriage, such as love, respect, honesty, trust, and teamwork, there might not be enough left to try to save.

Signs That Your Marriage Has Come to an End

According to California divorce attorney B. Robert Farzad, divorce is always an option, and it may be your best option if any of the three biggest signs that you’re ready for a divorce have happened. These are:

• You no longer respect your spouse, or they don’t respect you;
• You no longer find your spouse attractive, and you are no longer intimate;
• You have no empathy for your spouse, or they have no empathy for you.

What are some of the other telltale signs that your marriage is over? If you’re experiencing any of the following signs, your marriage may have run its course.

You Often Feel Alone Even When in the Same Room

One of the biggest indications of a failing marriage is the feeling of being alone in the relationship. Feeling like your partner no longer has interest in you and your life can be incredibly isolating. One of the keys to marriage success is that you are in the battle together. Having a team member to face all of life’s challenges with is one of the primary motivations for marriage.

When you no longer feel that your partner is interested in your daily struggles, triumphs, and trivialities, or when you are no longer interested in the daily struggles, triumphs, and trivialities of your partner, it is a clear sign that something is broken in your marriage.

You Are No Longer Looking Forward to the Future

When you think about your future together and it no longer brings you excitement, your marriage may be over. If your partner leaves you feeling depressed and wishing for a way out, you should probably take one. It is very difficult to be happy in the present when you feel that your future is doomed. If you can no longer imagine a future with your spouse in which you are happy, that is a pretty clear indication that you are not happy now and don’t see a way to fix things.

You No Longer Have Interest in Fixing Things

Much like a garden, a marriage needs attention and tending to in order to thrive. If you find that you are no longer interested in putting in the work to keep the marriage healthy and prosperous, it may be time to dig out the roots and pave things over. Apathy can rot a marriage. If you no longer care about putting in the time and effort, the rot will spread. It is better to move on rather than let it consume everything.

Increased fighting in a marriage can also be a strong indication that the relationship is in trouble, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that things can’t be fixed. However, when one or both partners no longer care to try, that is much clearer. Fighting can often fade rather than increase at this point in a marriage. This may be because neither partner cares enough about what the other is doing to get upset about their behavior anymore.

Should You Stay or Should You Go?

While the decision to marry or not can be one of the biggest questions in a relationship, the decision to end the marriage or not can be equally as important and potentially life-changing. At times, it can be difficult to tell whether a marriage has reached the end of the road or is just in a rocky stretch. All relationships are faced with difficulties from time to time. The challenge comes in deciding when it is too much to come back from.

If your marriage is suffering from any of the problems above, it doesn’t necessarily mean that it can’t be saved. However, if you have tried everything to fix the problem (or more likely problems) and there has not been any improvement, it is probably time to officially end things. Especially if it feels like your marriage has already been unofficially over for some time.