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Is Anxiety Hurting Your Relationship?

28 March 2017 by Wayne Owens

Anxiety can rob your relationship of its happiness and leave both you and your partner questioning its stability. Without taking any action, your relationship could possibly end. If there is anxiety in your relationship, here is what you need to know.  

What Are the Causes of Relationship Anxiety?

There are several reasons that anxiety can exist in a relationship. One of the most common causes is the fear that the relationship will not last. If you and your partner have been going through a rough patch, the anxiety can only worsen the fear.  

Sometimes, the cause of the anxiety is a loss of trust. Once the trust between two people is broken, it can be challenging to build it back. The frustration from trying to do so coupled with the desire to just move forward past this difficult period complicates matters.  

Everyone experiences some level of stress. In a relationship though, when both partners are experiencing it, anxiety can grow out of control. The longer the stress is present, the more difficult it can be to maintain the relationship. 

What Can You and Your Partner Do?

Regardless of the reason for the anxiety in your relationship, it is important that you and your partner deal with it. In some instances, the solution involves finding ways to alleviate the anxiety. For instance, you and your partner might benefit from exercising together. Exercising helps to release dopamine, which is a natural stress reliever.  

If the stress is leading you and your partner to fight, use time-outs to give both of you a chance to cool off and think through the situation. A 30-minute break can help prevent an escalation to the argument. Once the time has passed, you and your partner can attempt to continue the conversation.  

You and your partner should also consider therapy. Individual and couples' counseling can give you and your partner the outlet needed to discuss your emotions and the relationship. The therapist can help both of you get to the root cause of the anxiety and identify tools to overcome it. For many couples, therapy has helped to stabilize their relationships.  

Anxiety in a relationship is not uncommon, but if it is threatening the relationship, it is important that both partners take action to alleviate it. With the appropriate action, you and your partner can not only lighten the stress, but also strengthen your relationship with tools learned in therapy. 

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