Healthy relationships add a lot of value to your life. Romantic relationships, especially, are connections that we choose. Strong relationships can provide stability and make you feel hopeful for the future. But when you suffer from anxiety, it can keep you from experiencing the benefits of being in a committed relationship. You and your significant other should work together to maintain a relationship that feels safe emotionally and brings peace to your life.
Ultimately, it is your responsibility to be sure you find ways to deal with anxiety so that you do not hinder progress in your relationship. Good social interactions and strong relationships can improve your overall mental health. But anxiety disorders can be debilitating if you don’t address them. The emotional and psychological effects of anxiety disorders can be taxing for both you and your partner.
You should find ways to overcome anxiety and decrease stress so you can connect with other people healthily. If anxiety is ignored or left untreated, it could ruin a good relationship before it gets started. It may seem like something that you have to deal with alone, but it involves other people too. Here are five ways anxiety can negatively affect your relationship.
Lead to Insecurity
When you don’t feel secure in your relationship, it can be hard to move forward. Anxiety is a type of mental disorder. People who suffer from anxiety may feel like something is wrong with them. They may need constant affirmations from their partner to feel “normal” around them.
If you have an anxiety disorder you may even feel the need to hide this from friends or your significant other to avoid talking about it. If you’re feeling insecure in your relationship, you should focus on what is causing your feelings to determine if they are valid. Feeling anxious at the most inopportune times can cause feelings of embarrassment. When this happens, be honest with your person. Open communication is the best thing to combat feelings of insecurity.
Cause Excessive Worry
Those who experience anxiety are often overwhelmed by feelings of worry. If you experience this, you are not alone. Most of the time worry is caused by thinking about things that could happen instead of what has actually happened. You may start to worry about your relationship and obsess over what your partner is feeling or thinking. Worrying can be exhausting for both you and the other person.
The people you are connected with may want to express their concerns, but they may also have trouble understanding why you are worried. If you find yourself obsessing over your relationships and getting worried, you should try to find ways to decrease stress. Cannabis is a promising therapeutic method for relieving anxiety. You can even try the fruit loops strain to help you relax and decrease intrusive thoughts.
Make You Emotionally Unavailable
When you’re in a relationship, it’s important to be emotionally and physically available. Insecurities about anxiety can cause you to withdraw emotionally from the relationship. Anxiety disorders can heavily affect your emotions. Some emotional symptoms include the fear of doom, nervousness, and fatigue.
Experiencing these feelings could make you more likely to shut down or pull away from your loved ones. Transparency is the best way to deal with this so your partner does not feel alone in the relationship.
Increase Fear of Rejection
People with anxiety often focus on things that are outside of their control. Nobody likes rejection, but anxiety can cause you to focus on a fear of rejection that’s not warranted. One of the main
types of anxiety disorders is obsessive-compulsive disorder. Once you’re in a relationship and things are going well, you may start to worry about things that can go wrong. This could lead to a fear of being rejected if you open up to your partner about how you’re feeling.
Increased Dependency
When you’re feeling anxious or insecure, you might be tempted to cling to the thing that makes you feel safe. Strong connections with others can feel safe and secure. But your relationship should not be your safety net. It’s unhealthy to completely depend on another person to help you feel secure.
If you don’t deal with feelings of anxiety, dependency can cause your partner to feel smothered and, ultimately, pull away from you. You should be sure you have ways to decrease anxiety and relieve stress that does not include your partner.
Final Thoughts
Anxiety disorders can be difficult to live with, but there are ways to treat them and lower your stress levels. You should explore your treatment options and find ways to decrease anxiety. It’s possible for anxiety to affect your relationships in general. But it can definitely affect your romantic relationships. If you don’t find ways to control anxious feelings, they could lead to feelings of insecurity and excessive worry.
Anxiety disorders can also make you emotionally unavailable and increase your fear of rejection and dependency. These are not desirable traits in a mate. Make sure you find ways to deal with anxiety before and during a relationship so you can enjoy the benefits of a healthy and strong connection.