How Anxiety Can Affect Your Relationships
Director, Bach Counselling Group
Let’s get this straight: Anxiety is normal. It’s healthy. It makes us aware of danger, heightens concerns, and boosts our response to keep us safe. But while anxiety is natural, how you respond to it can become problematic within your relationships, intimate and otherwise. The research is clear that healthy relationships are the most powerful predictor of long-term health. Your relationships are the fabric of your overall wellness and longevity. Unfortunately, anxiety can be a damaging force that gets in the way of the love and intimacy you ultimately want.
If you think you might suffer from an unhealthy level of anxiety (see the list below) you are probably no stranger to the effects this common mental health condition has on your relationships.
Symptoms of troublesome anxiety:
- Excessive worry or fear
- Sleep disturbance
- Increased substance use
- Feeling nervous or on edge
- Panic attacks
- Having a sense of impending danger
- Feeling weak or tired
- Difficulty concentrating
- Gastrointestinal issues
- Avoiding things that trigger anxiety
Once anxiety results in any of the above, it’s likely to hinder your capacity to relate to your partner, family or friends in a healthy way. In fact, it can be destructive. Any of these symptoms, either alone or combined, will do nothing but exacerbate the anxiety itself. The result can be an accelerating downward spiral that leaves you feeling sad, helpless and emotionally distant.
The clinical counsellors at the Bach Counselling Group understand the detrimental impact anxiety can have on your relationships. They are professionals skilled in assisting individuals and couples improve not only their mental health, but more importantly moving you to a healthy relationship that thrives, even in the face of anxiety.
How Anxiety Can Damage Your Relationship:
- Overly Dependent (also known as anxious attachment): Do you get angry or withdraw when your partner or friend does not respond to your text or call as quickly as you want? Do you overthink/over analyze details of your relationship? Do you often fear rejection?; Do you need constant reassurance from your partner, friend and/or family member? It’s important to understand the roots of your anxious attachment pattern and how you can calm your mind and body.
- Social Isolation (also known as avoidant attachment): Do you avoid emotional closeness in relationships? Do you feel as though your partners are being clingy when they want to get emotionally closer? Do you withdraw and cope with difficult situations alone? Do you avoid complaining and expressing how you are feeling directly? This can make maintaining a relationship difficult. Again, it is important to understand the root cause. You can learn how to express yourself directly and feel secure with your partner.
- Constant Worrying: Do you feel like you are constantly living on edge? Do you have fear of missing out (FOMO)? Are you experiencing excessive worry about the past or future? Do you have catastrophic thinking or impending doom? This kind of worry will put a strain on your partner and/or your relationships. You can learn how to calm your mind and body and more effectively respond to your anxious states. These skills will relieve stress and strain within you and your relationship.
This gives you a sense of how mental health issues and in particular anxiety can cause difficulties between friends, loved ones, and family.
Anxiety-Relationships – Bach Counselling Group
We know that healthy relationships are the most powerful predictor of long-term health and that your investment in your relationships is the primary key to your overall wellness. Maintaining your relationship while you are experiencing challenging anxiety may seem like a struggle. However, there are many steps you can take to respond differently to your anxiety so you can have happier and healthier connections.
Bach Counselling will empower you to address your anxiety so that it no longer controls you. If you’d like help with your anxiety, contact us. We will help.
Overcoming Anxiety: Proven Strategies for Anxiety Relief 5-Week Virtual Program
This program is facilitated by one of our skilled clinical counsellor, Maureen Codispodi.It starts on March 6th at 7:15 PM to 8:30 PM (PST)with limited seats!
For yourself or someone you care about who needs solutions to anxiety, this is the program to choose!
With a weekly guided meeting, group discussion option, and access to Pause Meditation Series – 8 Guided Meditations with Heather Bach MA, CCC., this will compliment your counselling and/or get you started on applying evidence-based strategies to address anxiety.
Please see link for more details:
This course is valid for one year from the date of purchase so you are welcome to watch the replays and access the material for the whole year! If you have any questions regarding this course, please do not hesitate to contact us!
