Coping With Divorce: The Crazy Things People Do

I often write about some of the crazy, out of character, and frankly, stupid things I did while I was going through my divorce. While I’m not particularly proud, (and while there might be a couple guys from my past reading this who think Im psychotic) I’m not completely horrified at my past behavior, since  I think it’s to be expected that newly separated people act out of the ordinary in coping with divorce.

For example, I know a woman who was separated, who found a box of condoms in her husband’s drawer (they were still living in the same house.) She proceeded to open the box, cut all the condoms in half and put them neatly back in the box. I know another woman who cut all her soon-to-be ex’s ties in half and placed them back neatly in the drawer. I also heard about a guy who put anti-fungal cream on his soon-to-be ex wife’s toothbrush (which actually isn’t funny but noteworthy for this article.)

Hearing tales like this probably makes you feel a little bit better, if you’re newly separated, since maybe you can say, “Wow, I might be acting a little crazy, but I’m not as bad as some people.”

Well, now there’s a whole book about crazy things people do during divorce. Written by Emmy winning feature film and TV producer, Rocky Lang, If You Thought Your Divorce Was Bad…Wait Until You Read This Book is a hilarious (but in a bit of a sad way) book with divorce stories that will make your jaw drop.

Here is Lang’s guest post. I can’t wait to read his book! I also think it would make a great divorce gift!

The Story Behind If You Thought Your Divorce Was Bad   By Rocky Lang

Did you ever imagine getting a divorce was more difficult than the marriage that got you there? Well, it happened to me. This was the first sentence from an article I wrote for the Huffington Post called Sleazy Legal, and it became the genesis for my new book, If You Thought Your Divorce Was Bad…Wait Until You Read This Book!

As I traversed the world of broken hearts and broken marriages, it occurred to me that people are just weird. They will do incredible, out of this world, mind numbing and crazy ass things during a divorce. People who once loved each other and took eternal vows somehow become like Linda Blair in the Exorcist and their heads spin around and they become zombies from another planet.

Over the course of a year, I compiled the oddest, weirdest and craziest stories of what people will do in a divorce.

As we all know, divorce is hard and often devastating but this book takes a humorous look at the weird side of humanity.

When I went through my own divorce, there was only one thing that I kept in mind, and that was eyes on the prize. For me the prize were my kids, and even though my wife had an affair and left the marriage, I knew that to get into a contentious knock down would not serve my children. She, on the other hand, had her fists up ready for a fight at any moment. I saw a dark side to her that I had never seen before. Ultimately I began to see extreme behavior among others going through divorce and some of the behaviors became really weird. As I regained balance in my life, and fell in love again I began to see the humor in some of the bizarre behaviors and at the lengths people will go to get back at their spouses.

My book is a funny, a bathroom reader that is fun and quick read. However, at the core is a sadness of how crazy people can get during divorces. I think ultimately as humans we have basic, almost reptilian programming that allows the impulses of anger and jealousy, and hurt to come to the surface, causing us to become caught in a circle of nuttiness and do things that under normal situations we would never do. People can get extreme.

What would you do if you found out your husband had a GPS implanted in your breast during a breast implant surgery? How about if you woke up to a huge billboard outing you as having an affair and using your money to pay for it? What would you do if you ex bought the house next to you and erected a massive sculpture giving you the finger?

Perhaps writing this book was a cathartic exercise for me trying to put a funny side onto my disappointments with my marriage failure. All I know is I had a great time writing it, and I hope you will enjoy reading it.

Rocky Lang is award winning feature film and TV producer, having produced major films such as White Squall, directed by Ridley Scott. He has directed three features and series television. He is the president of Harbor Lights Productions and is  the author of eight books, including If You Thought Your Divorce Was Bad.Learn more: rockylang.com

Editor-in-chief: Jackie Pilossoph

Divorced Guy Grinning is a blog for men facing divorce and dating after divorce. It's kind of like hanging out with your platonic female divorced friend and hearing her perspective on your divorce and your love life issues.