I just assumed the desperate part from his behavior--the separation, the divorce, the attempts not to see you face-to-face. I see the divorce as his last-resort desperation move to make some change, any change.
Have you ever been stuck in cramped position for a long time, and the cramping and the pain build up to the point where you can't take it, but you can't get up and stretch out? What do you do? You shift in whatever way you can. It doesn't fix anything and you know it's not going to fix anything, but it's a change. Anything that's different from what you're going through is better than nothing. That's what he's doing; changing for the sake of change.
This might all be projection on my part, because divorce was my last-last resort, the thing I swore I'd never do. So if I were in his shoes, doing what he's doing, it could only be from desperation. But he's not me, so again, be careful taking advice from me.
