Not to start the year off on a miserable note but it seems that at the moment, everybody around me is breaking up. Not just friends and friends of friends but also celebrities.
Lily Allen and David Harbour, Richard Hammond and his wife Mindy, and even Jessica Simpson and her husband of 10 years, Eric Johnson, have called it quits.
What the hell is going on?!
I spoke with three experts about the relationship patterns and dynamics that lead to people starting the year by ending their relationships and filing for divorce. It turns out that actually, this isn’t a random happenstance and it definitely isn’t isolated to just 2025.
The festive season may play a huge part in it
Well, according to the law experts at Lawhive, this is nothing new. In fact, according to stats from the legal experts, divorce lawyers found that inquiries typically increase by 28% in January.
Eek.
UK lawyer Daniel McAfee at Lawhive explains: “Financial pressures are a leading trigger for relationship breakdowns during the festive season, with Lawhive case data revealing that 1 in 4 couples cite financial stress as a significant factor in their decision to divorce.
McAfee added: “Spending time with extended family during the holidays often heightens underlying tensions within relationships, with Lawhive data showing that family-related conflicts contribute to 35% of Christmas divorce cases.”
“Common triggers include disagreements over parenting, unresolved conflicts with in-laws, and feeling unsupported by a partner during family gatherings. Notably, 23% of Lawhive clients cited feeling “undermined” during holiday family interactions as a significant source of resentment.”
This does all sound very familiar.
Other experts think the past five years have impacted relationships
Trauma-informed therapist at The Inner Verses, Patience M. Chigodora, emailed to say the introspection many of us have undertaken since 2020 has likely played a part in the breakdown of relationships.
She explains: “Many people are now actively working on healing their childhood traumas, leading to a greater awareness of how their past wounds have shaped their relationships.
“As a result, individuals are recognising that they’ve been drawn to partners based on familiar trauma patterns rather than genuine compatibility. This awakening is causing a shift—many are breaking free from trauma bonds and attachment styles that once felt like love but were actually reflections of unresolved wounds.”
Accredited family mediator Louise Whitney says that the stressors we’ve experienced have contributed to even the strongest relationships breaking down. She says: “A big factor is the sheer stress and overwhelm that lots of people have experienced in the last few years! We have collectively lived through COVID and the lockdowns and the pressures of working and schooling from home, then a cost of living crisis, and I think lots of people are trying to function on a very full bandwidth.
“This puts pressures on even solid relationships. It’s also made lots of people re-evaluate what they want from life and a partner I think. That’s certainly something I’ve seen in lots of my clients.”
This makes a lot of sense. I know for myself that I feel like a completely different person to the one that entered 2020 and, to be honest, not always for the better either.
We’ve also previously reported that millions of people are feeling lonelier since the pandemic.
Let’s hope that if nothing else, we stay kind and patient with each other in 2025. It’s hard out there.