Suffering from January blues? You still might not want to end your bad relationship

Today is Blue Monday - with Leeds reportedly one of the worst cities affected - but the feeling of gloom is unlikely to end couples' relationships, according to new research.
An unhappy coupleAn unhappy couple
An unhappy couple

The average person knowingly stays in a bad relationship too long for their own good - for an average of four years, according to the study by eHarmony. The findings showed that the most common reason for staying in a relationship is the fear of being alone, with 12 per cent giving that as the reason.

Psychologist Dr Linda Papadopoulos said: “The start of a new year is a great time to take stock of everything in your life and work out what you want from the year ahead, be it a career change, new fitness plan or relationship reassessment.

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“When it comes to love, our research shows that many people stay in relationships that they know are wrong for them for a huge a variety of reasons.

“Yet, whilst this may feel like self-preservation, it can actually end up having a negative effect on self-confidence. By the same token, avoid rushing from one relationship to another and focus instead on your own happiness and well-being - the rest will follow.”

While two million people are painfully aware their partner is not ‘the one’, only 27 per cent intended to break off their mismatched union.

Fifteen per cent worry a break-up could have an impact on health, ten per cent believe it could lead to shattered friendships and the same amount worry it could affect performance at work. Nine per cent stay in these relationships because they don’t want to hurt their partner and seven per cent stick together for the family.

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‘Relationship recovery’ time reportedly increases by ten weeks for every year spent with a partner. One in four UK adults said they leave it less than a month before starting a new relationship.

The main causes for breaking up were not seeing a future with a partner (41 per cent), wanting different things (34 per cent), and not loving them (29 per cent).

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