How Anxiety Can Affect Your Relationships & What to do About It

Anxiety can impact people’s lives in a variety of ways. But, we often think of it as something very personal. In reality, it can have an effect on the external areas of your life, causing issues with things like your career, school, and even your relationships. 

When anxiety takes hold of your thoughts and you feel like you can’t control them, it will start seeping into how you interact with people. You might even feel like you have to withdraw from the people you care about because of your anxious thoughts. 

Unfortunately, that tends to make matters worse. 

Let’s take a closer look at how anxiety can affect your relationships. More importantly, we’ll dive into what you can do to foster and maintain healthy connections with the people you care about, no matter how intrusive your anxious thoughts might be. 

Withdrawal

Anxiety can sometimes come with avoidance behaviors. They occur for various reasons. You might think your anxious thoughts are a burden to others. You might start to believe that no one really cares for you. While that’s just the condition speaking, it can cause your actions to change when it comes to your relationships. 

As a result, it’s not uncommon for people with anxiety to dissociate from others. That might include things like ignoring phone calls or text messages, avoiding social gatherings, and even appearing somewhat cold or uncaring. 

Unfortunately, these avoidance behaviors can create a sort of self-fulfilling prophecy. When people think you don’t care or don’t want to spend time with them, it can damage your relationship with them. Your anxious thoughts might, in a sense, start to become a reality. 

Isolation can also impact you personally. Research has shown that many people tend to struggle with anxiety more often at night. Why do you think that is? While there are different factors to consider, it’s largely because you’re alone with your thoughts at night, with no one to distract you or provide comfort.

When you isolate yourself from people more often than not, those same anxious thoughts can run rampant all day and night. 

Dependency

Some people with anxiety go to extremes in the opposite way. You might become dependent on certain people because you have a fear of being alone or losing someone, or you need constant validation to keep your more severe anxious thoughts at bay. 

Unfortunately, this can also impact your relationships. When someone needs to provide constant validation and reassurance, it can be exhausting and create burnout. 

Dependency behaviors can also make your anxiety worse. People aren’t perfect, and if the ones you depend on don’t offer the validation you need, your symptoms can start feeling overwhelming and out of control. Again, that can make it difficult to maintain healthy relationships. 

What Can You Do? 

The silver lining to anxiety is that it’s often a very manageable condition with the right help. 

Don’t be afraid to lean on your support system. Open up and explain your feelings to the people you’re closest to. When they have a better idea of how your anxiety is controlling your behaviors, they’ll likely be more patient and understanding. They’ll want to help you in any way they can. 

If you’re tired of your anxious thoughts controlling your life and damaging your relationships, consider reaching out to a mental health professional. A therapist can help you get to the root cause of your anxiety and offer actionable advice for managing your symptoms and maintaining healthy relationships. 

Feel free to contact me today if you’re interested in learning more about what to expect or if you’re ready to set up an appointment for relationship counseling.