Heatwave breaking up marriages

Press, 22 July 1989, Page 17

Heatwave breaking up marriages

Britain’s heatwave is putting a big strain on marriages, according to a national marriage guidance organisation. Relate says that it had been flooded with callers desperate for help as the sizzling days and hot sticky nights had left many couples at breaking point. In some parts of the south calls to Relate are up by 30 per cent compared to last year while elsewhere they are up 15 per cent. Relate says that as the temperatures soared to the upper eighties many couples found making love just too hot to handle, putting a strain on their relationship. Other flashpoints occur when:

• People hard at work in sweaty offices come home to nagging partners.

• Wives ask tired husbands to mow the lawn or play with the children during hot week-ends.

• People drink too much alcohol under the mistaken impression it will cool them down. Relate counsellor Angela Martin explains: “Tolerance levels are greatly reduced in the heat. Little things become more and more annoying. “High temperatures exacerbate niggling worries and make any small difficulties in a relationship seem that much worse. “In extreme cases it could lead to divorce.

Couples who nag each other during hot days are not going to hit it off at night." She advises couples not to spend so much time in each other’s company, and to take plenty of exercise.