Relationships can be one of the best parts of life, and spending time with someone you are in love with – from dating to marriage – can fulfill deep parts of ourselves. However when problems arise it can be tempting to run for the hills. Instead of that, here are seven common relationship challenges and how to solve them.
Communication Breakdown
As you’ve likely heard, healthy and open communication is one of the keys to a successful relationship. When communication breaks down it is often the first start of arguments welling up inside that can eventually erupt into really serious fights and resentments. Sometimes communicating even about small things like household tasks or your schedule for seeing someone can be full of subtext of more serious issues so it’s important to be straightforward and try your best to communicate how you’re feeling. Sometimes this also means being patient with a partner who may be less communicative.¹
Jealousy and Insecurities
Jealousy is a natural human emotion, but when it gets out of hand it can ruin a relationship. Insecurity is also entirely normal, but if it becomes too intense it can start to lead down a negative path straight towards Breakup City. The bottom line on jealousy is that if you feel jealous frequently even about your partner’s friends or daily life you may need to step back and reassess. What is creating these intense feelings of jealousy? Have you clearly communicated your boundaries and agreed with your significant other on what is OK with you both? In terms of insecurity, it can mean low self-esteem and feeling not good enough and also lead directly to being jealous. When you feel inadequate everything is a potential threat. Communicate to your partner and work on insecurity through fitness, diet and even therapy if necessary. It’s good to support each other, but it’s also important to do work on your own to become a more secure person.²
Feeling Misunderstood or Overlooked
When it comes to relationships everything is related to everything else. In addition to the joy and connection they bring you, relationships can bring up all sorts of past trauma and painful emotions. One of the common ones is feeling that your partner doesn’t really understand you or fully appreciate or recognize your contributions to the relationship When you feel invisible or overlooked you can start to lash out in passive aggressive ways that then set off your partner and lead to all sorts of disagreements and negative feelings. At the end of the day, communicate how you feel and do your best to work on your own inner mindset and attitude the best that you can. If your partner is being truly disrespectful or unappreciative it may be necessary to openly call that out, but if there are slight issues keep in mind that no relationship is perfect and you can still choose to focus on all the good things by building yourself up.³
Overcrowding
It’s important even in the best relationship to give your other half some space. Even if you just love doing things together from watching movies to cooking, now and then take a weekend off for a girls’ trip or vice versa. Organize your schedule so that there’s plenty of time for each other but also some time apart or doing your own thing. Spending all your time together will seem sweet as pie at first but over the long run it can start to wear on your nerves and lead to both people starting to become less appreciative of the time they spend together.³
Money Problems
Money has brought down many a great relationship because the truth is money is a stressful subject. It’s best to be completely up front about financial issues from the start of your relationship and admit insecurities or concerns you have about money or your income so that your partner doesn’t feel blindsided down the road by a sudden crisis. Talk it out together and support each other. Money problems aren’t usually the end of the world, but it’s always better to deal with them out in the open from the very start.⁴
Intimacy Issues
Another relationship-ended is intimacy issues. Everyone is different and relates differently in terms of intimacy physically and emotionally. However, if you are finding that your partner is on a much different page than you or doesn’t seem to respect your desires or boundaries then it is best to talk it out openly with them. If deeper trauma and issues are coming up then couples therapy can also be very helpful.⁵
[1] https://inews.co.uk/inews-lifestyle/wellbeing/10-common-problems-people-relationships-solve-125001
[2] https://inspiringtips.com/common-relationship-problems-how-to-solve/
[3] https://thoughtcatalog.com/ioana-casapu/2017/04/the-15-most-common-relationship-problems-and-how-to-fix-each-one-of-them/
[4] https://www.bostonmedicalgroup.com/common-relationship-problems-and-how-to-solve-them/
[5] https://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=86834