Experiencing an anxiety disorder means that anxiety impacts essentially every aspect of life. This includes personal relationships. Anxiety can negatively affect relationships in many different ways – isolation from loved ones, communication issues, and dependence behaviors are all examples of ways that anxiety affects relationships. In treatment, addressing both anxiety and relationships is important in order to learn how to manage anxiety throughout your personal life.
There are a number of things that can identify whether or not your relationships are being affected by heightened anxiety. Identifying these issues can help you understand whether or not anxiety may be affecting aspects of your life that you may benefit from getting help for. Some examples and symptoms of anxiety affecting relationships might look like this:
You may be experiencing some or all of these symptoms of anxiety and relationships. These signs may be different from person to person depending on the type of anxiety disorder they’re diagnosed with and how severe and frequent symptoms of anxiety are. But, nonetheless, it can be helpful to identify how your anxiety is affecting your relationships so that you can begin to identify how to resolve these issues.
People living with anxiety disorders may act one of two ways when it comes to relationships – they may avoid those they love or they may depend on them all too much. Avoidance and dependency are key issues that come up as the result of anxiety and can be addressed through therapy in order to overcome them. Whether you are dealing with avoidance or codependent behaviors, either way, these issues can negatively impact the quality of your personal relationships in a number of ways.
Avoidance Behaviors: People who are living with anxiety disorders may find it easier to dissociate with others than deal with their relationships head-on as a result of heightened anxiety. Some signs and symptoms of avoidance in relationships as the result of anxiety can include:
Even though people with anxiety disorders may portray avoidance behaviors, it doesn’t mean that they don’t care about the people in their lives. It means that they don’t know how to have meaningful relationships while also juggling the weight of anxiety. And, that they may even fear that their mental health issues may be too much for their loved ones to bear.
Codependence: On the other side of avoidance is dependence. People who are living with anxiety disorders may completely rely on the people in their lives as they are dealing with the negative impacts of anxiety. Some of the signs and symptoms of codependent behaviors can include:
Yellowbrick offers outpatient mental health treatment services for people living with anxiety disorders. Our family-forward approach allows people who are living with anxiety disorders and their loved ones to approach the subject of how anxiety affects relationships during therapy sessions. Thus, providing a safe and supportive space to talk out emotions, learn about relationship skills to use, and practice healthy relationship skills. Find out more about our anxiety treatment programs from our website.
Yellowbrick collaborates with adolescents and emerging adults, ages 16-30's, their families and participating professionals toward the development and implementation of a strategic “Life Plan.” An integrative, multi-specialty consultation clarifies strengths, limitations, and risks, and defines motivations, goals and choices.
A mental health condition that’s characterized by intense shifts in mood including both manic and depressive episodes.
People living with Major Depressive Disorder, or MDD, experience episodes of depression and sadness that are debilitating to daily life.
Those living with anxiety disorders experience high levels of anxiety and stress that interfere negatively with daily life.
A mental health issue in which a person’s cognitive function is impaired, resulting in symptoms like experiencing challenges with conducting speech, reading and writing, and behavior.
Mental health disorders that negatively affect a person’s behaviors, thought patterns, and function. People diagnosed with these disorders experience challenges with managing relationships and understanding various situations.
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is a mental health condition that people can develop as a result of experiencing traumatic situations, characterized by symptoms including flashbacks, avoidance behaviors, and more.
A mental health condition that is characterized by specific symptoms of forgetfulness and lack of concentration, which makes it challenging to complete necessary tasks.
Mental health conditions that interfere with a person’s eating habits, thought patterns, and behaviors in negative ways.
A mental health disorder diagnosable with the DSM-5 that is characterized by both obsessions and compulsive behaviors.