Don’t Spoil a Beautiful Relationship , Preserve it !

The work life of one and all is coping with the bumps in the road of “Work from Home” format ever since pandemic engulfed globally. While all the spheres of our lives have experienced unprecedented changes, the prolonged stressful situation is actually affecting people in general  mentally, physically as well as psychologically. As we struggle to strike a balance between “normal” and the “new normal” a very integral part of our lives is struggling too .Even with Unlock 4.0 in action, many people are still skeptical about stepping out of the threshold of the homes.. This crucial element is maintaining healthy relationships during the pandemic.

It is undoubtedly true that relationships are full of challenges. With diverse changes, regulations and adapting to the unprecedented situation, we already have a lot on our plates.

A survey done on psychological impact of COVID-19 on Indian community showed that about 33.2% people had significant psychological impact due to pandemic and 53.8% had a moderate to severe impact. Financial worries, challenges of homeschooling, work from home, postponement of weddings, worries about wellbeing of friends and families, the stressful pandemic has unleashed a havoc in our minds and our relationships with others.

Couples who stay together are spending all the time together and couples who live separately are spending a huge amount of time apart. Either way, relationships are getting severely affected with the mounting pressure due to these changes.

Healthy relationships, romantic or otherwise, constitute a huge chunk of our lives. Our emotional as well as physical wellbeing depend on them. Apart from that, they have a huge sway over our productivity at work too. A relationship can help reduce our stress, provide us a sense of purpose and relief. On the other hand, unhealthy relationships can have a toll on our health and in turn, cripple our overall functioning as a human being.

Human contact or physical touch plays a huge rule in relationships and with social distancing at hand, one can only wonder the lengths to which avoiding contact can affect relationships. Keeping the spark alive during a pandemic might feel like watering a plant from six feet away. However, with the right flow in right direction, you can bring back this dying plant to life. Flow of thoughts is a must effort in relationships. Also, this pandemic has reinstated the importance of trust in relationships more than ever.

A healthy relationship brings out the best in you. Meeting close friends and family members is off the table. However, being close is not just about spatial proximity but the efforts you put into your caring relationships. You can defeat the feeling of loneliness and isolation of not just yourself but also others by just catching up on calls and chats. Take the help of technology to protect the emotional bonds. Then again, everything in right amount is healthy. Do not bombard a person who is coping with stressful work hours all day long at home with texts. Consider your needs as well as theirs.

According to leading Psychiatrists the write spoke they opined “Many times we get so involved with relationships we start putting our needs at bay. This is not healthy for you or your relationships. Invest in yourself and keep yourself happy to keep your relationships healthy. Engage in your hobbies, do something creative and stay engaged. Keep your sleep schedule and diet in check. Talk, read, meditate, and never compromise with the basic necessities of your daily schedule”.

Few couples on condition of anonymity said “Lack of personal space- both physical or emotional, led to heated arguments. Small misunderstandings started escalating to a heated row of disagreements’, they admitted. However, a Psychotherapist Marta Szapiel says that in an argument, partners tell each other hurtful things they may not necessarily mean with a calm head. This leads to regrets. The moment disagreements turn into life and death war-like situations, it is time to stop right there. Listen, acknowledge and then reply for a healthy communication.

If you’re living together, spending a lot of time under one roof might be challenging and fraught. Talk and discuss about your feelings. Express your disapproval sensitively. Respect the people around you. Take a step back before the argument catches fire. Avoid accusatory language and focus on communicating. If you are living separately, the communication barriers intensify disagreements. Speak out and talk about things that bother you then and there. Do not wait for a piled up disagreement rather address everything immediately.

Remember a relationship is just as beautiful as the minds of people involved. Have a date night in your own room or over a video call. Have quality time with your family. Give a hand to help with cooking and other chores. Drop a text to your friends and catch up with them even if they haven’t. If you value a relationship, do something about it. May be this pandemic turns out to be a blessing in disguise.

Pandemic or not, winning an argument at the stake of relationship doesn’t bode well in the long run. You may win the argument but still remain defeated, hurt and unhappy. And the only person who will be responsible for that loss, would be ‘you’.

Having a loving relationship and a partner who is willing to spend life with you is a privilege in itself. Save yourself another tragic loss to this lethal virus, feel the gratitude for what you already have and keep your loved ones close.

Reference https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0233874

Written by Sanjana Saxena