In every person’s lifetime, there will be an occasion where one is confronted with an unhealthy relationship. Whether it be with a family member or your significant other, unhealthy relationships can develop and one must be aware of the signs of an unhealthy relationship.
Jealousy is common in all human relationships and can have devastating effects on the ones you love if it is not able to be handled correctly. Jealousy parallels the fear of losing someone that you love to someone else. Usually, jealousy develops during periods of lacking communication and misunderstanding. If the person you love, for example, is hanging around with other people, jealousy can develop because of the intense fear of having your significant other become attracted to one of these friends. More often than not, the jealousy is completely unnecessary and instead a huge overreaction to something that is completely normal. Dealing with jealousy can be simple and manageable with a few simple tips.
Firstly, analyzing a situation in too much depth is the biggest factor in jealousy. By over-thinking a situation too much, you can lead yourself to conclusions that are irrational. These conclusions will always lead to jealousy and are completely unnecessary. Instead of thinking about something too much, try to go out and distract yourself when you feel as if you are going to over-analyze a situation. If your significant other is invited to go out with friends from work, for example, you should go out with your friends as well instead of sitting at home and torturing yourself with irrational thoughts. Besides being healthy for your relationship, you will have yourself a much better time by surrounding yourself with positive people.
Second, when you see your significant other seem somewhat flirty around someone of the opposite sex that they used to know, do not make yourself go crazy over this. Being friendly towards someone that you used to know is completely normal and acceptable. Instead of being jealous over this situation, try to think about what you would do if you were in their shoes. Wouldn’t you be extra friendly to someone you used to know if you have not seen them in a very long time? Thinking about what you would do in this situation can be an easy way to cope with the jealousy and relax your mind.
Communication plays a gigantic role in healthy relationships, and should always be maintained to avoid major jealousy issues. When a relationship begins to lose smooth communication, this is one of the major signs of an unhealthy relationship developing. Lacking communication leads to an increasing amount of misconceptions between partners, which then leads to extreme jealousy and anger.
Whenever you or your partner has feelings of jealousy, you need to confront it and tell your partner. By pushing it away or failing to tell your partner, you are creating more problems by bottling up the already existing ones. Confiding in your significant other is guaranteed to relax your tensions and lead to rational thinking. Also, listening to the person you love is majorly important as well. If you start to fall into the trend of thinking everything your partner says is a lie, you are setting yourself up for disaster. While humans find it difficult to believe what people say, it needs to be done to maintain a healthy relationship. Unless your partner is saying something blatantly false, try your best to have the benefit of the doubt and believe them when they tell you something. This will keep your jealousy to a minimum and is extremely beneficial to a relationship.
Lastly, reassurance is essential to getting rid of jealousy if it does happen to occur. If you are jealous or you can clearly tell that your partner is jealous, do not be afraid to repeatedly express your affection for them. Reassuring each other of your feelings is relaxing and positive to both you and your partner and alleviates jealousy tremendously. If you are going to go out for a night with your friends, tell your partner that you love them and that you would never do anything inappropriate without them. This will sooth their mind and relieve them of any potential irrational jealousy.
Obviously, jealousy is a natural human instinct that can be necessary to maintain a relationship in small doses. However, using these tips to avoid full blown jealousy will help a relationship grow and prosper in a healthy and positive manner.
This article was written by Andre Smith, an expert in providing relationships advice.