My thoughts: Men want their S.O. (significant others) to be happy, and when women aren't the happy, cheery creatures that the men want them to be, the men distance themselves away from the negative aura and the women. Women get resentful that men always want them to be these happy people and continue to be resentful when that men won't deal with the negative issues... how does this happen? Well, I'm generalizing a lot, but I think this is the basis for it... Men want their S.O. to be happy. This is a key issue. When she isn't happy, he thinks it's his fault. Men believe a lot of things are their fault, even when things aren't... So he tries and tries to fix the problem, but he can't solve it.. Another problem there.. he feels completely disappointed that he cannot fix her problem, so eventually he stops. Sometimes all she really wants is for someone to listen to her, but he just wants her to be happy, hence FIX, FIX, FIX! Women want their men to be happy, too, but they can't always keep up a facade if they really are feeling down, so then what happens... resentment on their part, and distance on the men's.