3 Suggestions for Navigating the Seven-Year Itch

The seven-year itch. I’m sure you’ve heard of it.

Social scientists say it’s when a married couple’s happiness wanes. For many husbands and wives, it includes a sense of monotony, boredom, a lack of fulfillment, passivity, and possibly even divorce.

Maybe like my husband Ted and me, you made it to your eighth anniversary relatively unscathed. It wasn’t that there weren’t any bumps on the marital road, it’s just that with the Lord’s help you managed to successfully navigate them … together.

But do you want to know what I recently learned?

The seven-year itch isn’t confined to year seven. The truth is that psychologists can’t agree on when this notorious marital phenomenon has the potential to occur. Some have placed it closer to year ten or twelve.

What they can agree on, though, is this: The infamous “itch” is common in marriages.

So what can we do as couples to navigate and proactively prevent any “itch”? I’m over at For the Family with three suggestions. You can read my article “Navigating the Seven-Year Itch” here.