5 things to do when a relationship gets you anxious

Anxiety in relationships is common

Especially if you are prone to worrying or are with a partner who doesn’t communicate clearly, anxiety will be a part of your relationship, and that doesn’t necessarily make it a bad thing. Social by nature, we are pulled powerfully to love, long to feel connected, and want to protect our connections when we secure them. It isn’t hard to feel anxious when we don’t feel connected, and also anxious we do feel connected, anticipating a time when we may not be.

Anxiety means you care

Fundamentally, anxiety means you care – we can only worry about things we care about – and relationships might be the most important thing to us. We care deeply about securing love, and keeping it safe. And we feel anxiety when love might be at risk.

Tune into what relationship challenge your anxiety is signaling

Anxiety can be just about you, and insecurities you bring to every relationship, or anxiety can reflect stresses in the relationship Weeding out what’s important to your relationship is important.

Recognize the motivation in anxiety to solve the problem

Instead of trying to ignore your relationship anxiety, recognize the motivation it delivers to do something about the problem.

Know when to ask for help

If detangling your anxiety or communicating effectively proves to be a roadblock, it’s time for help. Friends and loved ones can be a great support, but sometimes their guidance doesn’t always feel helpful.