People were asked to reveal the one thing that killed their last relationship.

The end of a relationship is never pretty. No matter the circumstances, breakups are painful — sometimes achingly, sometimes sharply, sometimes so badly you think you can’t go on.

For many people who’ve been dumped, the resounding question is: why? Why would a seemingly fantastic relationship end, and why have I been left behind?

On a recent Reddit thread, commenters attempted to dissect the thing that killed their most recent relationship – and let’s just say, it got pretty real pretty fast.

Some commenters observed that other people were bad influences on their relationship.

“My (ex) girlfriend’s friends encouraging her to cheat when they had a girls night out. She then proceeded to cheat on me with a guy who is 20 years older than her, balding, fat, has two kids from two marriages, and twice divorced. But he is a manager of a Hyatt hotel. So he can get hotel rooms for free. I guess he is a better man than me.”

And, as you probably anticipated, cheating seems to be a common theme.

“It was a long distance relationship. I always put in a lot more effort to spend time with him than he ever put in for me, and in the beginning of the relationship he cheated which ended up making me more jealous/angsty than I should have been.”

Watch the Mamamia team confess to the reasons their relationships ended.

But cheating isn’t the only reason relationships end – and sometimes, the ones that seem the strongest are destined to fall apart.

“When I married my ex, I thought “how great! We are best friends, we bypassed so much relationship drama!” Turns out, passion is important in a relationship.”

Different perspectives on what it means to be married also featured heavily in the thread, with one user commenting:

“The final word was that he knew I don’t believe in divorce, but he didn’t want to marry me if he can’t have an out in 10 years if he changes his mind.”

Sometimes – as we all know all too well – the end just comes completely out of the blue.

“She said that she needed to find herself and see what it’s like to be independent. Completely out of nowhere. Happened a week and a half ago and still in shock.”

Then, there are the tragic stories of addiction and alcoholism.

“She was an alcoholic and tried to stab me (on my birthday of all days) over half a $10 bottle of wine. I wasn’t letting her have it because she’d already had a bottle and was pretty well hammered.”

And finally, the devastating consequences of domestic violence.

“Probably when he hit me? Yeah, definitely that.”

What killed your last relationship?

If this post brings up any issues for you, please call 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) – the national sexual assault, domestic and family violence counselling service.