Most Popular Times of The Year for Breaking Up

I'm gaining a new appreciation for couples who make it an entire year without breaking up. A year is actually a pretty long time...especially in this day and age when the average attention span is miniscule. A year includes peaks and valleys in a relationship that you have to traverse to make it through.

I recently came across a study in Men's Health that outlined the most common breakup points in the year. This info was gathered after monitoring Facebook profiles referencing breakups. It was interesting to see that breakups spiked during certain points in the year. Here's my analysis of the are the results:

Spike 1: Valentine's Day
It's ironic that there would be a rash of breakups on the most romantic day of the year. My theory is that women dump their boyfriends when he drops the ball on Valentine's Day. Perhaps he didn't get a good gift, or he completely forgot about the holiday.

Spike 2: Spring Break
When it starts getting warm again and our hormones start kicking in, it's tough to be in a relationship.

Spike 3: April Fool's Day
Is this a sick joke? Do people really break up as a prank? I'd be in big trouble if I tried to pull that one.

Spike 4: Mondays
Mondays consistently spiked in the study. As I get deeper into professional life, I do admit I hate Mondays more and more. I think Monday breakups happen when people are feeling down or depressed. But maybe it's as simple as people just updating their Facebook profiles on Monday.

Spike 5: Summer
A layover from spring fever, summer is also a "playful" time of year. It's warm. People are partying and going on vacation. And there's a desire to be free. Or, because of all the vacation and adventure, someone may end up cheating which could lead to a breakup.

Spike 6: 2 Weeks Before The Holiday Season
When you plan to breakup, you sometimes have to consider timing. Breaking up with someone is mean, but breaking up with them during the actual holidays is that much more cruel. So, why not get it out of the way before the holidays?

If you're supposed to visit his/her family, you might want to break up before that - it would be even more awkward if you broke up shortly after seeing the parents and siblings. Also, the holidays tend to make everyone freak out, it's a mini crisis trying to keep up with all the responsibilities.

Lowest Amount of Breakups: Christmas
Case in point: No one wants to break up on Christmas. Who would do that to someone (even though I broke up with a girl on her birthday).

The breakup spikes for highest amount occur in spring and right before the holidays. The lowest amount or breakups occur between the end of July and beginning of October.

I'm not sure why the breakups are lower then - perhaps you can enlighten me? What do you think of the study? While it's a small sampling, some of the findings to make sense. What are your thoughts?

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Reprinted with Permission of Hearst Communications, Inc.