Compared with the rest of the Western World, American relationships and marriages are suffering the most during the recession, according to a recent international poll. Almost 30 percent of Americans said the recession has caused stress and strain in their relationships—or completely ruined them. However, only 23 percent of Canadians, 24 percent of the French, and 12 percent of Germans have had similar experiences.

OK, already, I get it. The economic crisis has really sucked. More women are choosing to sell their bodies or their eggs to make ends meet. Dudes are living at home longer. And next year, the Metropolitan Museum Costume Institute Gala is going to be downsized. Can researchers stop conducting these polls and studies without offering any solutions? [Reuters]

It’s exactly what it sounds like. Businesswoman Sarah Lavely created Sarah’s Smash Shack after she was dumped by her husband of 12 years. The Shack is a place for women—and men—to take out their love frustrations by smashing anything in sight. The breakable goods are provided, but jilted lovers are encouraged to bring their ex’s old crap to destroy. Lavely says people come out of the Smash Shack much calmer and less angry. [San Diego, 6/3/09]

“You’re doing what?”

I heard that a lot in the spring of 2007, whenever I explained to friends that I had broken up with my Nathan, boyfriend of four years, yet we were still living together in the apartment we’d shared for the last two. It was a temporary matter, I’d say, a situation that would last about a month or two, until we found our own places.

When you hear the word “detox” all sorts of things come to mind: spas, juice fasts, colonics, rehab centers. People enter detoxification programs to rid their bodies of toxins, lose a little weight, maybe look and feel better about the damage they’ve done to their bodies. Detoxifications are done when you eat too many chips, drink too many drinks, do too many drugs. But how do you detoxify from poor love decisions? Is there a Promises out there for people who have had one toxic relationship after another? How do you take the damage done from too many bad relationships to enable a fresh start?

We’re just going to come right out and say it: staying in a bad relationship just because you a) don’t want to be alone for the holidays or b) don’t want to be the bad guy/gal who dumped someone during the most wonderful time of the year is a waste. Why wait until after the new year (or worse yet, after Valentine’s Day) to make a change and move forward? It’s not going to be easy, but isn’t it better to be free than to be dreading an impending breakup for the next couple of weeks or months?

Here are our top 5 highly unscientific reasons you should break up before January 1st:

Sienna Miller supposedly is putting her London home on the market because she has too many memories in it—both with her most recent boyfriend, Rhys Ifans, and with Jude Law. This got us to thinking—would we move if a live-in boyfriend moved out?