Is Divorce Contagious?

I'm a member of an online forum where the question of divorce came up recently.

Take this article that was raised as a debating topic on our forum:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/family/7871149/Divorce-is-contagious.html

This article states that divorce can become "contagious" among groups of couples:

"The researchers have called it “divorce clustering” and found that a split up between immediate friends increases a person’s own chances of of getting divorced by 75 per cent." This is because: "When a divorced person confided in someone married, the married person gained knowledge about the benefits and drawbacks of divorce. In the study it appeared most people saw the benefits in dovorce[sic]."

This sparked a big debate on our forum, which is comprised of mostly women and a few men from all walks of life, socio-economic statuses and all religions.

Some people felt that it was unfair to assume that if one couple divorced, it was more likely that they would get divorced by association. Still others were upset when some people proposed that marriage should be fought for, saying that they had seen marriages that were disasters and that divorce was the best thing to happen in those situations.

What does the Catholic church think? Basically, that marriage is sacred. A civil divorce is not the same as an annulment (which is the only way to dissolve a blessed Catholic marriage). Marriage is forever, and should not be entered into lightly.

My personal belief is that once your marriage has been blessed by the church, it's forever. It's not "forever until something better comes along". Marriage is hard. It's sometimes frustrating, messy, definitely challenging. But for the exception of serious mental, emotional or physical abuse, or infidelity, I have to say that marriage should be fought for.

If you are unsatisfied, speak up! This is a hard one for me. I'm working on it. If you are envious of other marriages (or divorces, for that matter), try to figure out what you are envious of...in my case, free time. I feel like I just never can get enough time for myself. I have several friends divorcing right now, and when I see them taking a day off or a weekend away, I feel envious. Not of their situation, but of their freedom. A hard-won and usually sometimes bittersweet freedom, however. I sometimes feel like I wish I could start all over, but I wouldn't have the husband I have now, I wouldn't have my wonderful children, I wouldn't be the same person I am today. We don't have a perfect marriage, but we are trying, and that means a lot.

Something to think about.