Distance is the Magic Mantra to Make Relationships of Hollywood Couples Work

Celebrity-couple relationships go sour and it seems that being close to each other for far too long could be a solid reason for relationship problems.

David Arquette and Courteney Cox had recently announced their separation and on the Howard Stern's Sirius XM radio show, the actor said he hoped that some space might help their relationship.

"We gotta kind of make this separation more separate," ABC News quoted him as saying.

"You keep it like that and maybe she'll miss me more or whatever," he later said in the interview.

Michael Mercer, an organizational psychologist with an expertise in relationship issues, and president of the Mercer Group, in Barrington, Ill, agrees.

"Most people fantasize that it's great to spend a lot of time together, but in reality, people are not made to be together all the time - there needs to be a certain limit," he said.ercer likens too much together time in a relationship to finding a food you like, and then eating it incessantly.

"Too much of something often leads to taking it for granted and becoming bored," he said.

Jennifer Garcia, an assistant editor at People, said that couples who spend nearly every waking minute together, put stress on a relationship.

Cheryl Gerson, a licensed clinical social worker in private practice in New York, who has an expertise in relationship issues, said that privacy is critical.

"Being in relationship means you always have a consciousness of the other person, and so you may not have the opportunity to be simply yourself," she said.

Describing too much time together as being potentially "smothering", Bonnie Jacobson, a clinical psychologist in private practice in New York, who has a specialty in relationship issues, noted that one partner in the relationship might be dependent, which could lead to incessantly checking on the other partner, leading to feelings of being watched and controlled.

"When you work together, it's even more essential to have time alone," Jacobson added.

Source: ANI