Marital spats used to be expensive. There were the therapists and solicitors who billed by the hour, and the friends who had to be bribed with dinner.

Now the internet lets you gripe about your relationship endlessly, and for free. Hundreds and sometimes thousands of ailing souls give and receive succour on websites such as Wikivorce and SurvivingInfidelity.com. Much of the live chatting gets going after 10pm, when the kids are tucked in bed and the wife (or “X2B”) is downstairs watching TV.