Is it really that hard out there? No, seriously.

Since I've come on to this blog, many of our readers, particularly older female readers, have pointed out the difficulties in finding a mate.

However, times can never be difficult enough for a woman to have to resort to this.

Now I have seen enough of those crime analysis shows to know such a woman can suffer from various psychological and health issues. I'm sure I could even find a very small percentage of people who would say a 36-year-old woman could have truly found love with a 15-year-old.

Mind you, I don't know the surrounding circumstances, but I can't help but think that sometimes women get involved in such situations because they start getting desperate and are more open to guys that are more accessible to them. And we all know accessibility and quality are not synonymous.

I've seen women get close to the age of the teacher and date unemployed men who use them for money, throw themselves after married men because they want attention or even start saying they have a boyfriend in a pen pal from prison (yes, I've actually met someone who did that). Why would a women choose to do this? Because she knows these men through one avenue or another. Standards go out the window and it just becomes ever so important to have a mate.

And the scary part is so many women I know or have heard about have been through similar situations.

I don't believe any woman sits around planning to become desperate for a mate. It's something that derives from loneliness and a fear of an eternal state of being alone.

Having said that, do you think that nearing middle age and being single automatically lead to one going down a road of desperation? Why or why not? Are there ways of staving off such a feeling?