Your relationships with family, friends, colleagues, or romantic partners play an important role in shaping your mental health.
There is a strong connection between relationships and mental health. When your mental health is in good shape, you can devote time and energy to ensuring you have healthy relationships. You want to spend time with loved ones to nourish your partnership and avoid toxic relationships. But poor mental health can take a toll on many things, from your physical health and work performance to romantic relationships and other bonds.
It’s challenging to navigate a healthy relationship if you or your partner has been diagnosed with a mental health condition. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed at the thought of identifying the impact of mental health on your relationship. But understanding how mental health issues can impact your relationships may inspire you to stay healthy in all ways. Read more to learn about how to support your mental health needs and your partner.
How Does Mental Health Affect Relationships?
A mental health condition can impact all aspects of your life, including your relationships. It can create communication barriers between partners. You or your partner feels neglected and emotionally distant. Partners might struggle to understand each other’s needs and feelings. This will cause stress and misunderstandings, which result in more frequent conflicts or arguments.
In the worst cases, it can cause stress, anxiety, or depression, which further strains the relationship. However, mental health issues can not only impact your partner, but they also affect other relationships. Here is how poor mental health can affect different types of relationships.
Romantic Relationships
Mental health issues can make these types of bonds feel more challenging, whether you are in a long-term relationship or are officially married. A 2017 study found that people with mental health issues (depression and anxiety) were more likely to get a divorce. The main reason is that many people with mental health issues feel shame about their mental illness and try to hide it. They may feel frustrated that you don’t seek help, which can cause resentment to build on both sides. Poor mental health can also impact your sexual life. It will cause decreased libido and can make a partner feel ignored or unwanted.
People with mental health problems may struggle to get into a relationship. For example, if you are suffering from depression and you have symptoms, such as low energy, pessimism, sadness, and worthlessness. These symptoms may make it difficult for you to go out on dates. Social anxiety disorder is another good reason that makes you want to avoid being in social settings. People with this condition feel anxious in social situations, like one-on-one interactions, public speaking or large crowds. Social anxiety disorder causes an extreme fear in you of going out on a date with someone new. So, you may start to think it’s better to be alone than to force yourself to date.
Familial Bonds
Parents, siblings, children, and cousins, all of these relationships may be affected if you or your partner is navigating mental health issues. Research shows that children of parents with mental health issues are at high risk of poor health or dealing with mental or emotional disorders themselves. You may feel guilty as a parent for affecting your children’s health. But being a parent with mental health issues also comes with some other challenges.
Many mental health symptoms can also make it hard to nurture familial relationships or may exacerbate dysfunction that already exists. People with anxiety sometimes suffer from irritability and fatigue. So, if you tend to get irritated with your mom or another family member more often. The feeling may increase due to your anxiety. As for fatigue, you feel so tired and don’t have the energy to put in the time to keep your familial bonds strong.
Friendships
Having close friendships is always a good thing when it comes to relationships and mental health. That’s because friends can provide the support system you need and give you a space to talk about your feelings. Mental health symptoms can have a bad impact on your social relationships. You need to spend time with your close friends to keep your friendship strong and healthy. People with major depression live in isolation and spend less and less time with friends. This will cause a loss of connection with friends or break bonds. It results in an increase in loneliness, which can increase depression.
When You Should Seek Professional Help?
As you know, which relationships may be affected by poor mental health, here are three ways that help you understand how mental health can hurt your bonds. So you can seek professional help for your partner or yourself.
You May Spend Less Time Together
People with major depression spend lots of time alone. Certain anxiety disorders (like social anxiety disorder) may cause people to avoid social relationships or settings. This will result in isolation and loneliness.
Pessimistic Feelings May Develop
Certain mental health problems can make you feel down or pessimistic. You may struggle to look on the bright side or tend to think the worst of others. When it comes to your relationships, these mental health symptoms can play out negatively. If your mom does something you don’t like, you may be tempted to think she doesn’t love you anymore, rather than giving her a pass. You may avoid spending time with family because you are mad at them. Another example is you are dating and meet someone you like. These symptoms can cause your brain to create worst-case scenarios, and you cut things off before they even get started.
Your Loved Ones May Walk on Thin Ice Around You
Your friends and family are not mental health professionals, and they may not know how to react to your mental health symptoms. Your partner may feel confused about your symptoms. Sometimes it may hurt or make them sad. It is similar in the case of your family members and friends. They will be more cautious around you and avoid or stop sharing what they really think, which may upset or hurt you. The problem is that if people are not truthful or fully themselves in relationships, it can break that bond.
Talk to your healthcare provider if your emotional health is affecting your relationships. They will help you navigate how you are feeling and may be able to give tips on getting your relationships back on track.
Ways to Strengthen Your Relationships
Mental health and relationships are closely connected. It is easier to nurture the bonds when your mental health is in good shape. You care about your relationships and avoid toxic relationships. Many things can help strengthen your relationships. Here are some things that may help.
Interpersonal Therapy
Interpersonal therapy (IPT) was first used as a treatment for major depression in 1969. It is a shorter-term therapy, lasting for about 12 to 16 weeks. It uses the idea that our interpersonal relationships can help with mood issues. IPT is thought to lower depressive symptoms and help you function in social situations. A mental health professional can observe your relationships and how you approach intimate connections. IPT is done solo.
Family Therapy
It is also known as marriage therapy. It focuses on helping people address psychological issues that affect relationships, marriage problems or even child-parent relationships. Family therapy only works when both partners are willing to go. The therapist will not be proving who’s right or wrong. But they will help you learn how to navigate issues together and communicate better.
Quality Time
Mental health problems can cause isolation and loneliness. You may try to hide yourself from loved ones. Loneliness can make you feel even worse and negatively affect your health. Make an effort to tap into your social networks to connect with the people you care about the most. You can share about yourself and talk about what you are going through. Letting your friends and family know about your struggles can enable them to do something for you and provide a support system.