Long Distance Relationships

 

Long distance relationships are one of the most common types of relationships.

 

    In the United States alone, 2.9 million marriages have been long distance. Most of the distance occurred within the first three years of marriages. Majority of the 2.9 million marriages were long distance because of the spouse being in the military. Of the non-married couples, 4.5 million were college students. So how do couples usually keep in touch to maintain the relationship?

 

    With technology being really heightened and consuming about 80% of our life it made long distance relationships more relevant. Video chatting is very useful since you can actually see the person you are talking to, texting is just as popular because you can say what you want but you don't get visual reactions from the other person which might be a good thing to some people.

 

     Of course some of the downfalls of being long distance is physical intimacy, jealousy, out of sight out of mind complex, etc. Since a couple doesn't have any direct face-to-face communication it makes the jealousy level rise in both men and women. A study showed that 33% of long distance couples didn't use any form of face-to-face communication, of those 33%, 13% of them experience unsatisfaction within the relationship to begin with.

 

      When there is distance sometimes it can make the relationship stronger if the two people are willing to take that risk. Missing each other for long periods of time can make the reunion extra special. Some men even report saying that being apart decreases the nagging and fighting with their partner. Others say that being together all the time created more jealousy than being apart because their partner wasn't around to make any assumptions or find evidence of cheating. Even though there is no physical communication, once getting back together the physcial communication gets better and a bit more understanding.

 

       So then the question becomes how far apart from each other do you have to be in order for it to be a long distance relationship? Is there such thing as a long distance relationship? How many years into the relationship can it be long distance? What does it take to stay together?

 

If you were in a long distance relationship or believe in one, what do you think maintains it?