People with relationship anxiety often worry that their partner will find someone better or doubt if they love them. They may also place too much importance on minor differences, like a different taste in music or movies, and sabotage their relationships with tactics such as ghosting.
A healthy way to work through relationship anxieties is with open and honest communication. If you notice that your anxiety is causing problems in your relationship, it is worth seeking professional help.
Fear of Rejection
If you are constantly worried that your partner doesn’t love you or is going to leave you, this may be a sign of relationship anxiety. This also includes being preoccupied with your relationship and constantly checking in with your partner to ask if they’re happy.
People with this condition also often experience negative self-talk and are more likely to engage in people-pleasing behaviors. They are prone to taking criticism personally and are easily offended.
If you’re feeling anxious in your current relationship or have anxiety about a future one, it could be helpful to seek professional help. A therapist can teach you strategies and tactics to manage your anxieties so that they don’t interfere with your relationships. You can find a therapist who may be right for you by searching online or using an app like Thrive. You can also try implementing self-care, such as getting enough sleep and eating a healthy diet, to improve your mood and increase your confidence.
Incompatibility
If you find yourself questioning if your partner really likes you or is right for you, this could be a sign of relationship anxiety. This could be triggered by things like sex issues, different upbringings, work pressure or even just long-term stress.
You might also find yourself overanalyzing every little thing they say or do. This can be exhausting, especially since you don’t have any real evidence that their actions are harmful. Instead, try putting more stock in what they actually do or talk about with them, and don’t over-analyze offhand remarks.
It’s not uncommon to feel insecure about your relationship, but it becomes problematic when these feelings interfere with your daily life and make you avoid talking about or engaging with them. This can lead to feelings of resentment and distrust, which may eventually lead to problems within your relationship. Instead, focus on the good aspects of your relationship and try to divert your destructive thoughts by writing down positive ones in a journal.
Fear of Losing Your Sense of Self
It’s not uncommon to feel insecure in a relationship, especially if you’ve experienced past trauma or have an anxious attachment style. However, it’s important to remember that anxiety in a relationship doesn’t have to be caused by your partner or by anything they did or didn’t do. It’s more often an internal response to certain triggers that can be difficult to understand on your own.
If you find yourself constantly comparing your relationship to other relationships in your life or your idealized version of relationships, it can be a sign that you have relationship anxiety. This can cause you to blow situations out of proportion, and easily feel hurt or angry. Addressing this with your partner in a respectful way can be beneficial, but it may be more helpful to talk to a therapist or other mental health professional about the root causes of your relationship anxiety. They can help you make connections between your past experiences and your current behavior.
Fear of Conflict
If you find yourself constantly seeking reassurance from your partner, doubting their feelings for you, or fearing that they might leave, it can be a sign of relationship anxiety. This type of behavior can lead to a negative cycle, with one partner feeding into the other’s negativity until it becomes toxic and difficult to manage.
A common cause of this is past experiences that left you feeling insecure or unsafe. However, it’s important to remember that you can control your emotions and mental process, so focusing on changing this can improve your ability to have healthy and fulfilling relationships.
Having open and honest communication with your partner is the best way to manage your feelings of anxiety. Taking the time to focus on yourself and maintaining other relationships can also help you stay in touch with who you are and be better equipped to confront conflict when it arises. Viewing conflicts as tasks to be completed rather than a negative emotional experience can help as well.