Anxiety is an oft-misunderstood experience—even more so when it involves romance. Here, we delve into the particulars of anxiety in relationships.
Love is perhaps the strongest force on Earth. Poets give their hearts
for it. Artists sing the most beautiful lines about it. Truly, love is
perhaps the most powerful emotion you can feel. It can make you feel
great joy, as well as great sadness.
What makes love the most beautiful thing you can ever experience is
the profound effect it has on your life. When you are happy and in love,
you experience feelings of euphoria. There is nothing quite like
feeling true love—love that you can feel with every fiber of your being.
There is nothing like love that makes you feel whole and complete. But
what happens when you feel a pang in your heart with the person you
love?
When there is more sorrow than joy
Anxiety in a relationship is perhaps one of the most daunting
experiences in existence. It can leave a profound impact on both your
relationship and your quality of living. Anxiety in a relationship
happens when you feel that the relationship has you by the throat,
almost suffocating you.
It is the point in a relationship when you feel that you are quickly
losing your joy, and find yourself giving into painful, unwanted
feelings of misery and regret.
Having anxiety in your relationship can be caused by many things. For
one thing, you may no longer trust your significant other. When you
lose trust in a relationship, everything can go awry. Uncertainty
becomes a major issue. It is like taking out a boat into the middle of
the ocean, not sure of where you are going. What does anxiety in a
relationship feel like? Can you ever recover from these unwelcome
feelings?
#1 It is like having your heart torn from your chest. When
you feel anxiety in a relationship, it is both painful and devastating.
What is even worse about having anxiety in relationship is that you
feel you are caught in an unsettling place between misery and happiness.
You may feel happy when you are with your love… but your happiness
might be accompanied by feelings of fear, regret, or uncertainty. You
feel like you are forever having an internal debate with your heart: you
want to go one way, but your heart is leading you in an entirely
different direction. In the end, you find yourself more lost than ever.
#2 You feel like everything will, inevitably, end.
When you get into a relationship, you cannot help but hope and dream for
a future together. Though you can never know what the future will
bring, you can only hope for happiness and dream for the best. But what
happens when you feel like everything will end? The kisses, the sweet
nothings, the moments together—all gone, with nothing left but memories.
#3 It is like continuing to linger where you feel you no longer belong.
What is it like to be haunted by your own relationship? It is often
described as feeling like a ghost as your soul wanders. You may feel
doomed to wander aimlessly, while trying to pick up the pieces of your
heart. In a relationship with anxiety, you may feel like you are stuck
in a situation you no longer belong in.
#4 It is like trying to find your way in the dark.
Having anxiety in a relationship is very much like wandering into an
unlit room where you stumble all over yourself. You find yourself trying
desperately to familiarize yourself with your surroundings, but in the
end, you find that it is a hopeless folly. Your vision becomes blurry,
and you try, in vain, to find slivers of light in your relationship.
Usually, this manifests in trying to find reasons to stay together, but
coming up empty every time.
#5 It is harboring feelings of resentment over everyone’s happiness. When
you feel anxiety in a relationship, you experience feelings of misery
rather than happiness. When unhappiness sets in, you start to feel it
clawing at your heart.
You no longer see your significant other as someone who makes you
happy. In fact, you resent them, and find yourself suffering in silence.
You may even have deep feelings of resentment for couples who seem
happier than you. It will eventually eat away your soul, and you may
find yourself growing hardened and embittered.
#6 It is finding yourself in a manic loop of irrepressible feelings. When
you find yourself trapped in the never-ending cycle of manic
depressiveness, you cannot move forward. Being caught up in your runaway
emotions can make you blind to the truth. You may be unsure of what you
will do next, or how you truly feel. It is like having all your logic
torn from you, as you drown in endless panic.
#7 It is losing all hope in what you had once held dear.
Feeling anxiety in a relationship can lead to you losing hope in it
altogether. You no longer see a happy future for yourselves. In fact,
you have said goodbye to the beautiful fantasies you’d planned and
dreamed of. Unfortunately, when you lose hope, the relationship is
usually doomed to fail.
Anxiety in a relationship takes a toll on your emotions. Each day
becomes a struggle, and needs to be dealt with using every last ounce of
energy you can muster. It is very much like being left out in the cold,
while the fire of your love has all but died down.
Can we survive?
Overcoming anxiety in a relationship is possible, but you have to ask
yourself, “Are we worth saving?” If you firmly believe the relationship
is worth saving, ask yourself another question: “Am I willing to
change, even if my significant other doesn’t?”
Not all relationships are worth saving. There are those that have
been doomed right from the start, while others fade away slowly. Decide
for yourself if you want to keep holding on, or if you believe it is
time to let go.
You can only change yourself. You are going to have to accept that
you can never change your partner, no matter how much you beg, plead, or
cry. No amount of prayer is going to change your partner, either.
Perhaps the best way to encourage your partner to make a
change is to change your own behavior and reactions, and become the best
version of yourself–which includes accepting your anxiety in
relationships and treating yourself with love and respect.
