Whether you’ve been married two decades or have just been dating for a number of months, your relationship isn’t immune to serious problems. Numerous couples experience a relationship crisis at one point or another, and the greatest protection against it is to recognize the indicators of it as soon as possible. Exercising denial or failing to acknowledge difficulties in your relationship will place you on the fast track to a breakup or painful divorce.
Listed below are six indicators that your relationship is headed for or is already in severe trouble:
o You are living parallel but separate lives. This occurs more frequently than individuals realize, particularly when two individuals have been married or living together for several years. You share a house along with a bed, but little else. Instead of truly living as a couple, you both do your own factor. You reside much more like roommates than a loving couple, with your own activities, hobbies, and pals. Although it may seem to be “working” at first glance, it is often a red flag of a serious relationship crisis.
o There is abuse of any kind. Abuse of any kind ought to by no means be tolerated in a romantic relationship. Numerous individuals, especially ladies, deny the abuse if their substantial other isn’t hitting them or physically harming them. They fail to acknowledge that abuse also encompasses factors such as pushing, utilizing intimidation or threats, verbal abuse, sexual abuse, and emotional abuse. Whenever abuse is present, it is a neon-flashing indicator of a very severe relationship crisis.
o One or both of you is playing the blame game. Part of being an adult entails taking responsibility for one’s role in any type of relationship issue. None of us are ideal human beings and relationship problems are never one-sided. If absolutely nothing else, at least one individual is permitting the other to be disrespectful. Blame is destructive and accomplishes nothing. If one or each of you is blaming the other for any problems in your relationship, you are already in or heading towards a relationship crisis. Absolutely nothing will get resolved till the blame stops.
o There’s substantial unresolved conflict. One of the greatest ways to maintain a relationship wholesome and steer clear of a serious relationship crisis is to maintain the avenues of communication open and work to resolve conflicts rapidly. Unfortunately, many couples allow conflicts to go unresolved and to fester for a very long time. Sadly, unresolved conflicts do not go away on their own and can slowly tear a relationship apart. One or both partners will often feel resentful or angry, and those feelings usually surface one way or another.
o Infidelity. When infidelity creeps into a relationship it always impacts the relationship in some way, even if the non-offending partner is totally unaware of the affair. People who are in really happy, healthy relationships rarely cheat on their partners. Those who do are often attemptingto get a need met (whether emotional or sexual) that is not being met within the relationship. Although frequently a symptom of a relationship crisis that already exists, infidelity can also produce a severe crisis also.
o Sex is rare or not happening at all. Sexual intimacy is one of the key things that separates a marriage or other committed relationship from the other relationships in both partners’ lives. For women, sex makes them feel loved and desired, and for men sex is often how they communicate love for their partner. When it’s absent or occurring extremely infrequently, it’s typically a sure sign of a serious relationship crisis.
If any of these factors are occurring in your relationship, don’t ignore it. Burying your head in the sand and hoping it will just go away doesn’t work! Far too many breakups and divorces happen simply because one or both partners refuse to take action to deal with signs of a relationship crisis before it is too late. Most crises could be resolved if each of you’re prepared to do the work. There is hope – but you need to take action!