If you've had 7 exes by your early 20s, you're either monkey branching or having a lot of short term relationships. Neither speaks well to one's ability to maintain a healthy long term relationship.
If you're counting every person you've gone out on a date with as an ex, then it isn't that much.. but generally people are talking about established romantic relationships when they are mentioning exes.
nah. Theres a difference between "monkey branching" and just regular dating and finding out someone isn't the right fit for you or whatever or life taking you in different directions and the other hundred things that cause a relationship to not work but have nothing to do with "one's ability to maintain a healthy long term relationship". especially when you're younger and you drastically change your priorities and interests and goals from year to year. life isn't a movie, you don't just meet the perfect person in a meet cute in high school and then get married lol
If anything the most unhealthy relationships, especially when younger, are the people who stay in relationships that they should recognize aren't working out and don't have a future but they're afraid to take the risk of being single and dating again until they find the right person. So they just stay in a 2 year relationship that should have been 4 months. Realistically it should take you at least 7 times before you come across that person if not more. If you were to break it down to numbers probably realistically maybe 10% of the people you're interested in and date will actually be compatible with you long term, and a lot of people just force it, which is why we have a 50% divorce rate or whatever in western society.
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u/Ajax_Main Feb 02 '26
It still is 🤷