Why is it important for couples to think about their Mental Wellness?

Mental Wellness and Couple Relationship have a cause-and-effect connection, and they play a major role in the game called Life. Human beings are social creatures, and they seek comfort in other people’s presence from time to time.

Various studies indicate that our mood and overall psychological states affect our relationships. Whether good or bad, our mood will explain how we react to the difficulties in our relationships.

Almost 50% of the adult population experience signs of a mental disorder at least once in the course of their lives. Research highlights the fact that mental health breakdown can make an individual experience dissatisfaction, reduced efficiency, and impact productivity in work, and even impact well-being.

In my career as a Mental Wellness Coach, I’ve worked with couples in multiple settings. I’ve witnessed the healing effects that a healthy relationship can have on an individual struggling with mental health. Healthy relationships serve as a shield to help the individual in both physical and mental health conditions.

On the other hand, it’s well known that relationship stress with a partner can negatively affect the person who is struggling with mental health and make the condition worse. The stress in the relationship can affect them physically as well.

Now that we have got to know why mental wellness and relationships are inter-connected, I would like to share a few tips on why couples need to think about their mental wellness.

Here are ways Mental Wellness For Couples can be helpful and impactful:

Less Stress - Being in an active relationship is associated with less production of cortisol, a stress hormone. This suggests that paired people are less responsive to emotional stress and that the social and emotional support that comes with having a partner can be a great buffer against stress. There's even evidence to recommend that couples who stay together are more satisfied and peaceful than those that don't.

Deep Connected Relationship - Interpersonal relationships become incredibly difficult when one person is dealing with a mental health issue. This is especially true in the case of parenting. Here, the couple needs to set the boundaries and keep open communication regarding thoughts, feelings, and the situation they are going through.

Emotional Intimacy - Some mental health disorders, especially depression, can also let people spontaneously distance themselves from a partner just because of fear that their presence negatively affects others. Or, sometimes they simply don’t have the strength to socialize and end up departing from mates. Social withdrawal, however, can drastically degrade feelings of closeness or intimacy with a partner and eventually worsen other mental health traits.

Physical intimacy - Several emotional factors can also make it much more stressful for some people to engage in physically intimate acts like sex. In particular, depression and anxiety, as well as some of the pills used to treat them can lower libido and cause performance concerns like erectile dysfunction or painful intercourse.

Higher Quality and longevity of Life - Simply put, you’ll live longer and be happier when you care for your partner's mental health needs. When mental health issues are taken care of, then eventually there is less possibility of having any health risks. You’ll also be able to understand each other, socialize in healthy ways with your partner, be more resilient and keep emotional stability.

I’ve often seen the adverse effects of Relationship stress on people who struggle with depression, anxiety, and related complications. The partner may initially spend a lot of time taking care of that person and working hard to keep the relationship. This pattern can go on for years. But it often happens that the caregiving partner gets tired of this part because they’ve been ignoring themselves in this process. The result is that the partner may end up slowly withdrawing from the part of the caregiver, or may respond in angry outbursts. This can make the other person’s original traits more serious.

If one or both of the partners is struggling with mental sickness, these negative emotional reactions are often intensified. At a behavioral level, individuals tend to isolate themselves, may turn to alcohol and drugs addiction to numb heavy emotions, and sometimes turn to have extramarital encounters. When marital stress is at its peak, there’s a greater likelihood of being misused, the movement toward divorce, and male aggression.

Get help to get back on track!

Couples need to get professional help and guidance to get their relationship back on track before the situation leads to crisis relationships. Sadly, many couples who go to couples therapy have been experiencing these dysfunctional patterns of comparing to each other for a long time.

Many marital researchers and therapists claim that having a clear idea of what you want for yourself and in your relationship is important for the health of both the couple in a relationship and for the individuals.

A healthy outlook of the couple's relationship includes having rational expectations of the rewards that marriage brings, and realizing that it still requires personal effort by both people to make it work.

Do comment what all ways you can see value addition to your life and don’t forget to share it and follow me on Instagram & Facebook - @relivewithsangeeta & ReLive-Because You Matter