“”Till death do us part” really doesn’t mean what it used to, but, generally, when someone gets married, they tend to think it will still be a strong commitment. But the reality is that not everyone stays the same after the vows are said and rings are exchanged.
Someone asked “People who divorced after only one year, what happened?” and netizens shared their experiences. We got in touch with the user who posed the question to the internet to learn more. So get comfortable as you scroll through, upvote your favorites and be sure to share your thoughts below.
#1
A girl I went to school with got married while still in highschool. Her parents were d**g addicts and abusive. She and an older guy friend (18) decided to get married to get her out of her situation. He offered her parents money if they would sign for her to get married at 16.
They never acted like a married couple or slept together (he is gay) and they got divorced a little over a year later as soon as she was 18 but continued living together as roommates. Nothing went wrong, that had been the plan the whole time.
No idea where they are now.
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299points
#2
We lasted a little over a year. The first sign happened our first night home from the honeymoon. He said he was going to sleep on the couch because he'd be more comfortable there, and that's where he slept nearly every night. He all but ignored me unless he had a work function for me to attend. Half an hour after I got home from having abdominal surgery, he asked what I was going to make for dinner. The final straw was when he yelled at me for spending $8 (yes, eight) on a pair of shoes for my grandfather's funeral, then he spent $800 on a single golf club the next day. Lots of little things on a daily basis that let me know that he was perfectly happy with me being miserable. I grew my first hints of self-respect during that year and decided I was worth more.
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147points
#3
I call it my starter marriage.
He grossly misrepresented who he was. He was willing to move mountains for us, until we were us.
Then he turned controlling - to the point where he changed the way *my* keys were on *my* keychain. This was back when all cars and homes had keys.
Then he turned controlling - to the point where he changed the way *my* keys were on *my* keychain. This was back when all cars and homes had keys.
He refused to mow the lawn, and would fight the tickets he got for it, by arguing that the base allowed 12”, and it was only 11.5”.
He would eat everything in the house, leaving me no food, and then complain that he couldn’t lose weight.
His gift giving went from diamond earrings before marriage, to a muffler, in the box, after marriage. The muffler is part of car maintenance, it’s not a birthday gift.
The final straw for me was when he got mad at our kitten for being a kitten, and he threw him across the room. If he does that to an animal, what will he do to a tiny human.
I left at 7 months. We didn’t even make it a year.
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125points
Bored Panda got in touch with the user who posted the question and they were kind enough to share some of their thoughts with us. Naturally, we were curious to learn what sparked their interest in this topic in the first place.
“I decided to post it after a conversation with a friend. We were both in very long term relationships that slowly declined over time but we know a number of people who were married for a year or so and then divorced. We were wondering what happens so suddenly to lead to a drastic change when you should be in the “honeymoon” phase of a relationship. So I decided to ask the internet!”
#4
I turned into a lazy slob after she had our daughter. She felt out of love with me and didn't tell me for a year. So for a year she was in an unhappy marriage and I had no idea. She eventually cheated and we got divorced shortly after.
I have since spent the last year and a half improving myself(gym, college, therapy, etc) so I don't do the same thing to my next relationship.
124points
#5
I knew he had an anger problem, and by the time the wedding arrived I had considered canceling it, but my friends and family talked me out of it "he's just stressed out." So I went through with it, and he hit me for the first time right after the wedding, like I still had my dress on. My family talked me out of leaving that day. A couple months later he got pissed at me while driving and nearly [unalived] us both by driving off a cliff. I started planning my exit and left in month #5.
107points
#6
I came to find out that she was trying to separate me from my friends and family so she could control me like her mom controls her dad. The signs were all there and I just overlooked them.
We were divorced after six weeks.
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97points
The thread ended up having thousands and thousands of comments, so we wanted to know how this made them feel. “I was very surprised by the response, I didn’t expect so many reactions so this definitely hit a nerve for a lot of people. I was also surprised how many were not just solely about cheating, which I assumed the majority would be.”
#7
He cheated. He's still with her 12 years later, so now that the initial pain has long since faded I can't even hate, clearly they had something genuine and at least I didn't waste more time with a guy who wasn't meant for me.
96points
#8
Moved temporarily to earn my masters so I could help us make a better life for ourselves. A few months later and out of the blue, she sends me a Facebook message informing me that it’s over. Never did get a straight answer for why (probably another person), but if your spouse thinks Facebook Messenger is an appropriate vehicle for ending a marriage, why doesn’t really matter. Good riddance.
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92points
#9
Not me, but my friend…
He pulled the plug after ten months. She was crazy pants. Kept her place and never moved in with him. Brought her kid on their honeymoon to Disney World and did everything with the kid, leaving him behind. Screaming at him constantly.
This is why you don’t get engaged to someone you only dated for a month.
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88points
“In a way it made me sad, about the damage we can do to each other when emotional wounds don’t heal and the generational trauma it can create. It reminds me of an expression “if you never heal what hurt you, you will bleed on people who didn’t cut you.” I think overall it gave me a lot of sympathy for others and was a good reminder that you never know what’s going on behind closed doors.”
#10
My ex was abusive, mentally, and verbally abusive. He was also very controlling and tried to cut me off from my family. The final straw was when he told me to my face that he was abusing me and trying to push me over the edge so that I would unalive myself. He didn't want to actually do the [unaliving], but he told me that he was excited to find my body. That was Christmas day 2002. I left him that day and never looked back.
84points
#11
I found out everything I knew about my husband was a lie. I thought he had a job, he did not. I thought he was paying the rent, because he forced me to quit my job and said that he would handle it as long as I stayed home handling the kids. No job so he was paying no rent, and I found this out when I opened the door one day to an eviction notice. Then other things slowly came to light. Like cheating. Literally every single thing he ever told me was a lie and I found out way too late.
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74points
#12
He lost his job and became paranoid that I, who was working, was cheating. My job was about a 20 min drive away but if there was traffic and it took me 30 mins, I was interrogated about my whereabouts. All of this took place maybe 3 months after we got married. We weren’t married much longer after that. More s**t went down but yeah.
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72points
They also shared some parting thoughts on the whole topic. “Social media makes us believe everyone is happy and in these pictures perfect relationships which isn’t always the case. It was a good reminder we need to be kind to each other and true to ourselves.”
#13
We got pregnant on our honeymoon because my husband accidentally threw my birth control away. my Dr appt was two weeks away and he wouldn’t use protection.
Fast forward several months and he was screwing our neighbor because I “got fat.”.
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70points
#14
He went on deployment and either had fun himself, or saw the fun other men were having and decided he wanted to use his two weeks of leave to see what it was like to be single. I told him he could go on leave single if he wanted to, but he wouldn’t be coming back married if that was his choice. So we ended things.
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69points
#15
I caught him drinking and driving with my kids in the car after he’d already had a few DUIs and was supposedly getting sober. I came home early and saw him toss something in the trash a few houses down as he pulled up so I stopped to check and it was a beer can. Walked inside and tossed him right out.
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66points
#16
4 months. It was the only time I ever cheated on someone and I still regret it whole-heartedly. I could have just ended it, but I was so immature.
I grew up uber religious, and my mom wouldn't let us just move in to try it out because then we'd be "living in sin." So we got married, and I moved across the country to live with him.
He would work 10-12 hour days, come home, watch Top Gear for 2 hours, go straight to bed. Saturdays were spent with his friends. Sundays were spent with his family. We never had one-on-one time. Sex was spare and terrible.
Left on my own for 5 days a week essentially, I started playing League with friends from back home. Got introduced to one of their buddies. We would play and talk for hours, and really hit it off.
Husband found my chats one day while I slept. I didn't even deny it. Just bought a ticket to fly home. I ended up paying for the divorce, which is fair. We didn't share any assets so I was able to write my own divorce decree in a couple hours.
My mom was going on a cruise to Alaska with her bestie, so I flew with them because the port was in WA and so was my then husband. Met with him to get his signature in front of a notary. Sent it to the court from there.
He and I went to get lunch together after that. Admitted we both weren't ready and were glad to end on amicable terms.
Now I'm with the love of my life, and he went on to have a more open dating life.
64points
#17
He stopped working, doing anything in or around the house, refused counseling or doctor, then started to get mean calling me horrible names. Was mad I didn't do everything just right, when he was doing nothing. I left when I realized he was becoming abusive and knew if I stayed he would start hitting me. Then the day I left found out about all the affairs going on. Including sleeping with my boss at the time.
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64points
#18
I found messages from her to two different men she knew trying to convince them to come to where we lived and [unalive] me. Also found out that she was cheating on me as well with someone local.
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55points
#19
My Spanish cousin married a woman from the US and she moved in with him to a town outside of Barcelona.
She made no effort to integrate or learn the language and generally ended up isolated. My cousins family tried hard to help, inviting her to go out to things all the time but she always refused.
She made no effort to integrate or learn the language and generally ended up isolated. My cousins family tried hard to help, inviting her to go out to things all the time but she always refused.
One day my cousin goes to work, comes home to an empty house. She got moving vans to come and collect all her stuff and furniture and she went back to America. Told him they were done from the airport. Was brutal.
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53points
#20
His controlling side came out as well as did his " Only what I want sexually matters" side and I had to pull a knife out one evening to get him to stop. He also threatened to stab my friends who were playing the role of my security guards when I was on campus after I had left him.
52points