When one partner falls in love with someone else, it is usually because there were already considerable personality and value differences in the marriage. For at least one spouse, the relationship was already dead. Children can learn to accept this, even if it is difficult for them to understand at their age. What they do not need is for one parent to use them as a weapon to punish the other. Excessive Drinking and Abuse of Drugs.
Substance abuse is a disease that touches many families.
This illness may contribute to the events leading up to the divorce. Excessive drinking or drug use often result in violence, automobile accidents, loss of employment and physical illness. There are, however, many substance abusers who do not miss work and are never violent, yet their drinking or drug consumption does numb their feelings. They remove themselves emotionally from the family, being unavailable as a companion, friend parent, or lover. Children almost always see the results of this disease, even if they do not realize the causes.