When You Are Lonely In Your Marriage by K. Parsons
I was in a long term, serious relationship, and yes, I was lonely at times IN that relationship. So I already damn well know that marriage is not a guarantee for romance, love, getting your needs met, and all the rest.
(Link): When You Are Lonely In Your Marriage by K. Parsons
Excerpts from first half:
- When you get married, you are psyched for so many reasons. You are finally with your one-and-only, forever. You’ve got a partner in crime. It’s you and your spouse against the world. You’ve got each other’s backs, you’re best friends. Shall we go on? Oh, yeah. One more. You’ll never be lonely.
- Uh, not so fast on that last one. Research shows (Link): marriage can be one of the largest sources of social stress. When expectations are not met within the union, it can lead to depression, resentment and, yes, loneliness.
- Researchers found that one or both members of a couple can feel isolated even if they spend a lot of time together. But why?
- How Marriages Become Lonely
- “Sometimes marriages fall into an autopilot pattern,” explains Wendy Walsh, Ph.D., relationship expert and author of The 30-Day Love Detox. “Partners no longer court each other or exchange the care that they did in the early days and they become more concerned with selfish interests.”
- Other times, one partner in the marriage may be unhappy but unable to communicate that effectively, which can lead to feelings of loneliness too, she said.
- Spouses who are also parents face an even greater risk of feelings of isolation or abandonment, especially when one parent is playing a role (worker or caregiver) that makes him or her unhappy.
- “When children arrive, sometimes couples fall into traditional gender roles or battle about gender roles for the first time,” says Dr. Walsh. “One may feel a need to work more outside the home to provide for the family, another may feel a need to nurture more. This is definitely a time when the battle lines can be drawn. Children put a lot of stress onto a marriage.”
- Fix the Feelings of IsolationFor whatever reason you’re experiencing loneliness in your marriage, Dr. Walsh offers these three tips to help you start repairing your relationship.
- …3. Don’t rely on your spouse for everything — spread your wings.
- If you expect your spouse to fill all the roles of best friend, emotional confident, lover, domestic partner, co-parent and your primary intellectual stimulant, you might always feel a little disappointed. Instead of relying on your spouse to fulfill all these needs to the fullest, divide those tasks among a few platonic friends. “This is a way to take some of the pressure off of the marriage and improve self-confidence too,” says Dr. Walsh.If you can start by identifying why you’re experiencing loneliness, you can move forward to the actions needed to feel better about yourself and your marriage.
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Related Post:
(Link): Asking Too Much Of Marriage – Married People are Lonely
(Link): Why Do We Feel So Lonely (via USA Today)
(Link): Lonely People’s Brains Work Differently
(Link): Why Lonely People Stay Lonely
(Link): Sick of Being Single / Sick and Tired of Being Single Alone Unmarried Lonely
(Link): The Biggest Threat To Middle-Aged Men: Loneliness
(Link): When You Are Lonely In Your Marriage by K. Parsons
(Link): Asking Too Much Of Marriage – Married People are Lonely
(Link): Married Woman Says She’s Lonely Because Her Husband Works All The Time
(Link): When You’re Married and Lonely by J. Slattery
(Link): Settling Vs Being Lonely (letter to advice columnist)
(Link): Why is it So Hard For Women to Make New Friends? by G. Kovanis
(Link): Women Who Dump Women Friends As Soon As They Get A Spouse or Boyfriend (Letter to Advice Columnist)
(Link): Dear Abby: Teen Gets a Boyfriend, Snubs Her Old Pal
(Link): Do Married Couples Slight Their Family Members as Well as Their Friends? / “Greedy Marriages”
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