Anxiety affects the quality of our relationships

Anxiety affects the quality of our relationships. Furthermore, it does so in a way that we are not aware of because it acts almost like an invisible steamroller that crushes everything: humor, spirit, desire and even our ability to connect with others.

The anxious mind perceives, thinks and feels the world in “alert mode”almost always guided by a feeling of threat, distrust and fear.

Said Daniel Defoe, author of books like Robinson Crusoe either Moll flandersthat The weight of anxiety in human beings is proportional to the evil it generates in its environment. Sadly, it is not only that psychological state that causes so much suffering to those who suffer from it. Its impact transcends the person themselves and blurs their reality in many and infinite ways.

Job performance is reduced. Communication changes, it is influenced by the most adverse emotions, such as sadness, anger, fear, nervousness, etc. All of this causes the way we address others to vary; We are less patient and what is worse, sometimes there is the sting of distrust or that exhaustion of someone who is no longer even capable of understanding others.

However, yes, The way in which anxiety affects the relationships in our environment will always depend on the degree to which the person is.

We can all suffer from stress at a certain time, feeling more anxious than normal on specific days. Now, there are those who unknowingly carry a generalized anxiety disorder or other disorders in which anxiety is present for years.

In the latter cases, multiple problems and difficulties are always experienced. Let’s see it below.

Anxiety affects the quality of our relationships: aspects we should know

Anxiety affects the quality of our relationships and can do so in many ways. Each case is unique and each experience exceptional, but there are always a series of patterns that repeat.

There are people who take many years to receive a diagnosiswhich causes them to build, for example, emotional relationships where unhappiness always permeates.

In other cases, the couple themselves are aware that something is happening. There is a sudden change in behavior, communication, and even health or lifestyle. In these latter situations, it is easier to identify the problem and it is also a time when the greatest possible support is needed.

Let’s learn below how anxiety affects the quality of our relationships.

This is how anxiety manifests itself in a relationship

To understand the impact of this psychological disorder on the relationship, we have multiple studies. One of them is carried out at Temple University in Philadelphia, United States. In this work, the situation of 33 couples was analyzed in which one member of each of them suffered from an anxiety disorder. What could be seen is the following:

There is a high level of emotional pain, which is not limited to those who suffer from anxiety.: the other party also ends up suffering from it.There is a feeling of guilt. If something goes wrong at home or if the couple suffers any problem, the person with anxiety places the responsibility on their shoulders.Irritability and mood swings are experienced. There may be moments in which a greater need for closeness is perceived and other moments in which there is emotional coldness.Discussions can be constant and sometimes distances are created.Anxiety, as we noted at the beginning, places us in a feeling of constant threat. Something like this causes the mind to interpret certain stimuli in an erroneous and destructive way. For example, silences, certain gestures and words can make the person feel that their partner is experiencing discomfort, contempt or lack of love. It is a way of adding more suffering to this situation.

Anxiety can generate emotional dependence

This information is important. A way in which anxiety affects the quality of our relationships is building bonds based on dependency. This is common in patients with generalized anxiety disorder. Let’s look at the behavioral and psychological patterns that define them:

People with GAD (generalized anxiety disorder) have a very intense need for closeness. They seek to obtain continuous affection, security and calm. This causes them to build very codependent bonds in which, sadly, they never feel satisfied. Their partners cannot meet all their needs and this generates more frustration and more anxiety.These people are characterized by overthinking. They visualize the most adverse possibilities for each situation, such as, for example, being deceived, not being loved for behaving in this or that way, etc.What they fear most is being rejected and need immediate reinforcement in their needs. That is, if they send a message to their partner, they expect an instant response. If they make a request, if they communicate or ask for something, they expect to be attended to immediately. If this does not happen, the shadow of distrust and the ghost of fear arise.

Anxiety can lead to avoidance

There are people who avoid relationships as a coping strategy to deal with their anxiety. Through it, they can avoid negative emotions (for example, disappointment or frustration) by not revealing their feelings, opening up, or being vulnerable. These people are typically perceived as cold, emotionally unavailable, lacking empathy, or even distant, even though they actually crave closeness.

To conclude, as we can see, anxiety affects the quality of our relationships. The same thing happens with other conditions, such as depression or any other type of mental illness. Under these circumstances, The most necessary thing in all cases is understanding, closeness and that stainless support where you can convince the affected person to request specialized help.

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