As no relationship is a cakewalk, romantic relationships witness several highs and lows with time. Differed opinions between partners give rise to conflicts and sometimes lead to sourness in the relationship. Physical, emotional, and mental abuse are red flags in a relationship and can be damaging to the individual in the long run. Experiencing anxiety and stress every time the thought of your partner crosses your mind can be a sign of an emotionally draining relationship.
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What is an Emotionally Draining Relationship? An Emotionally Draining Relationship is one witnessing constant conflict, lack of authenticity, minimal attention, and negligible reciprocity. It can make a person feel frustrated and emotionally drained and affects his/her mental well-being.
Signs of an Emotionally Draining Relationship:
- Receiving toxic texts: Receiving toxic texts or emotionally disturbing messages from your partner can negatively affect your mental state. Such attempts to control your texting behaviour for instant attention can lead to anxiety and emotional distress.
- Holding back from expressing: Hesitating while putting forward your opinion just because you worry how your significant other would react, can place you on the backfoot and abstain you from pouring out your bottled-up feelings.
- Constant criticism: When your partner constantly complains about something or the other, overlooks the efforts put and refrains from appreciation then such behaviour may instil self-doubt and lower your self-esteem.
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- Exhausting conversations: Experiencing fatigue after having engaged in a conversation with your partner is a sign of a worrisome relationship. Getting annoyed quickly and displaying aggression frequently explains an imbalanced state of mind.
- Prefer time alone: Preferring to undertake activities alone that you earlier enjoyed with your partner, shows you want to avoid interaction to escape distress caused by your partner.
- Feeling tired all the time: If your relationship is consuming most of your time leaving you with almost no window to relax or you feel overwhelmed by the expectations of your partner, it can push you to your breaking point and affect your mental and emotional health.
- Affects other bonds: If your romantic relationship affects the way you interact with other people such as your friends or family then it speaks of an underlying problem of insecurity between the two partners.
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Tips to Deal with an Emotionally Draining Relationship:
- Figure out the issue: Openly communicating the problem and understanding the other individual’s perspective on it can help go to the root cause of the problem. Once the main issue is recognized, it could be easier to find a resolution.
- Self-care: Indulging in self-care not only allows you to practice all those activities you love but also ensures personal space and keeps you from carrying the baggage of responsibilities. It cultivates a sense of understanding and brings in a lot more patience to resolve fluctuating relationship problems.
- Effective communication: Sitting down with your partner to express your needs and expectations from them can give them a chance to retrospectively and effectively deal with any further issues springing up.
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- Taking responsibility: Owning up to your mistakes can help diffuse fights before they escalate further. Taking responsibility to mend the issues lets your partner know you care and are willing to put in effort to save your relationship.
- Compromising: Some form of compromise is required by both individuals to make their relationship work. Overlooking flaws in your partner to some extent can bring in more peace and avoid resentment or criticism in your relationship.
- Seeking help: Reaching out to loved ones or professional counsellors can help navigate through difficult times in your relationship and cope with emotional distress.
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Relationship counsellors, coaches, and therapists are trained to assist couples in resolving problems and alleviating pain associated with unhealthy relationships. Online therapy offered by empathi.com is based on proprietary therapy methods as well as Emotionally-Focused Therapy (EFT). The team of professionals provides virtual marriage counselling and couples therapy services based on acceptance, empathy, and connection.
Takeaway
Building healthy relationships is important as it fosters emotional and mental well-being and results in the overall growth of the individuals involved. A healthy relationship is one inclusive of mature adults who despite disagreements do not let wither away the shared love and close bond. Healthy relationships tend to be based on honesty, trust, respect, effective communication, and call for joint efforts and compromise on part of both partners.
