Which of these do you think are the ones that affect couples the most...it's for a play I'm writing. 1) Religious differences 2) Political differences 3) The other parent's doesn't like the other partner 4) One of the partners is still in the closet 5) Financial problems 6) No sex 7) Wanting a child 8) Disappointment in the other's career 9) One has a disease (cancer, AIDS/HIV) 10) Homophobia 11) Bad living conditions Pretty common I know
Domestic violence and abuse. I ended up reading about it for my sociology of gender course, and apparently, it's at rates equal to and somewhat higher than for straight couples. That could give you something a bit more unique to work off of, maybe?
The question isn't which problems are the most common. The question is which are the ones affecting your couple(s). These needn't be the most common ones, they just have to be ones that you can put meaning in. Ones that you have enough understanding about to say something meaningful.
Alcohol may or may not be a factor—that's your choice. Most abuse, though, either doesn't involve alcohol, or the alcohol is simply another facet of it (but not the main cause).
I've merged the two threads so the poll is in the same thread as the discussion! As for an answer... I'm hardly an expert in this, but the relationships I see breaking up often have no clear reason. Sometimes people just seem to drift apart for no reason as the initial period of infatuation dies down. So I picked "roommates instead of boufriends/girlfriends" I think Liam is right, though: if it's a play, you should pick the one that holds the most potential to write about. When I watch a play I crave drama more than adherence to social statistics
