Psychologist named the main reason for divorce among Russians

In recent years, divorce among Russian couples has often become a conscious choice rather than a personal tragedy. Inna Mirnaya, a psychologist and founder of the Institute of Family Psychology, which unites specialists working with families across the country, told Izvestia on February 19.

According to her, in 2025-2026, the nature of breakups themselves is changing: they are less often associated with acute conflicts and more often with a gradual loss of emotional intimacy.

"We see this not from one study, but from hundreds of cases of specialists who are trained and supervised by the Institute. The main reason for breakups today is not infidelity or domestic scandals, but a prolonged lack of live contact between partners," Mirnaya said.

The expert stressed that modern couples have become more psychologically literate and are not ready to maintain relationships only formally if they lack emotional fulfillment. Marriage is increasingly perceived not as a lifelong commitment, but as a union that retains value as long as it has development and mutual interest.

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According to the expert, most often couples with eight to 15 years of marriage experience come to divorce. It is during this period that systemic problems become apparent: lack of dialogue, disregard for personal needs, and substitution of everyday functionality for emotional intimacy.

"Partners can be a great team — parents, household managers, logistics of life, but at the same time they have not been a couple for a long time. And when this is realized, divorce becomes a logical, not an impulsive decision," Mirnaya added.

At the same time, the increase in the number of divorces, in her opinion, does not indicate a crisis in the institution of the family. On the contrary, he may say that people pay attention to internal processes and get out of destructive scenarios before they lead to serious psychological consequences.

According to Mirna, the main request that couples are asking for help today is related to the desire to learn how to talk to each other before the point of no return. She stressed that divorce prevention is not based on universal advice, but on a regular and honest dialogue that allows you to maintain emotional accessibility in a relationship.

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Psychologist Sergey Lan reported on February 18 that men often experience separation harder than women. At the same time, the expert noted that society often perceives a man after a divorce as a negative character.

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