Being married makes your spouse one of the most influential figures in your life. What you probably do not realize is that he or she also significantly affects your health. If your spouse has an anxiety disorder, it can have a profound impact not only on your relationship, but on your health and your quality of life as well. It can feel as if you’re carrying a dark, heavy weight on your shoulders.

According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, anxiety disorders are the most prevalent type of emotional condition in the country, affecting more than 40 million adults. It’s no wonder that your spouse feels anxious with all of the unrelenting pressures and responsibilities involved in managing one’s home life, romantic relationships, financial worries, work environment, and social engagements. Without skills and tools to address this strain, anxiety can affect your marriage negatively.

Signs That Anxiety Is Melting Your Marriage

In a way, anxiety can sometimes be beneficial as a warning sign that something needs to be understood and addressed in your relationship. For example, it’s normal to feel anxious when your marriage is beset by problems in your marital, family, or professional relationships. It helps you as a couple to reflect and take the necessary steps to tackle the stressor. This may include devoting more quality time to each other, amending ways to correct selfishness, or having proper sleep hygiene.

Whether it is caused by family, work, financial, or health problems,
anxiety can negatively affect your marriage in a variety of ways. It’s no secret that a psychological condition such as anxiety affects an individual’s way of thinking, behaving, feeling, and functioning on a daily basis. One study shows that when it affects one or both spouses, anxiety can make them feel less comfortable and less close with each other.

When one member of the couple has an anxiety disorder, the non-anxious partner may also experience a great deal of personal distress. Seeing someone you love become wrapped up in limiting feelings that reduce their ability to give, receive, and face the demands of daily life can make you feel unsafe and lead you to similarly react in a fight/flight mode. This loss of security can harm your marital friendship and intimacy. Feelings of depression, fear, resentment, and guilt may prevail for you and your spouse.

Anxiety can reduce a partner’s ability to perform routine household chores, leaving the non-anxious spouse feeling annoyed while taking on the larger share of domestic, parenting, economic, and other responsibilities. The spouse with anxiety may also need extra care, taking into account the condition and adjusting family activities to meet their needs. As the sufferer withdraws from social situations, the spouse without anxiety may also become unable to maintain a healthy social life. Without a network of support, the couple may both feel isolated and alone.

The signs may vary between individuals and among couples, but an anxiety disorder is never a justification for abusive behavior. When you’re aware of the telltale signs of anxiety, such as depression, feeling overwhelmed, insomnia, lack of self-confidence, and lack of control over daily life issues, you can determine when counseling may be beneficial in unraveling the cause of the anxiety negatively affecting your marriage.

Making Your Marriage Healthy Again

It is easy to feel helpless and scared about the fact that anxiety is wrecking your relationship. Seeing your significant other mired in anxiety can leave you emotionally drained as you focus your attention on everything except yourself. Your emotional health may suffer; the level of stress involved in caring for a spouse suffering from a psychological condition may be more than you can handle. You need to take care of your emotional health and well-being to remain strong and support your anxious spouse and any children you have.

At this difficult time, it pays to have a support system to provide assistance in many ways when your spouse is incapacitated. Anxiety is a big issue that needs professional help. Although it can be frightening to reach out to others for support, know that you can get the help you need by seeking
marriage counseling when anxiety is negatively impacting your relationship.

Enlist the help of the right-fit professional independently contracted with Carolina Counseling Services – Fayetteville (West), NC. Your counselor will develop a treatment plan appropriately matched to the anxiety issues damaging your marriage. All you need to do is call CCS -Fayetteville (West), NC, to schedule an appointment, and let the independently contracted counselor do the rest to help your marriage thrive healthily and happily.

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• Separation Anxiety Can Be an Adult Issue
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