Relationship Expert Bree Maresca-Kramer

Relationship Help & Advice For Stress

Stress creates a break down in our bodies, which leads to a plethora of health issues. However, did you know stress is one of the primary elements that destroy relationships?

In my work, both men and women report feeling stressed out or overly stressed on a daily basis. This causes them to feel fatigued, overwhelmed, anxious, and short tempered, which they often take out on their partner.

Now, these men and women are not intentionally behaving this way to create issues in their relationship, they just do not have effective stress management skills to handle their daily stressors.

In fact, once they learn these skills and use them, they find that their relationship deepens and grows even stronger!

Relationship Help & Advice For Stress

Stop!

The first step in preventing your stress from ruining your relationship is to stop what you are doing and take a break. For instance, if you just come home from work feeling quite stressed out and your wife greats you at the door with a “honey-do-list” tell her you need to stop and take a time out first!

Go for a walk, exercise, take a hot shower/bath, do deep breathing exercises, journal, listen to your favorite music, pray, meditate, etc. By taking the time to participate in a de-stressing behaviors, you will be able to clear the stress from the day instead of  taking it out on your partner.

Relationship Help & Advice For Stress

Talk!

Most of the time when people are stressed out they bottle up those feelings on the inside and assume everyone around them, especially their partner, understands what they are feeling. The fact is that no one, especially those closest to you, can know exactly how you are feeling until you tell them.

Therefore, when you feel stressed, you need to communicate that to your partner. Let him or her know what is creating the stress for you.  Often times, the mere act of “getting it off your chest” will reduce your stress level greatly.

By talking about your stress, it lets your partner become clued in on where you are emotionally and avoid taking your stressed out emotional state  personally.

Relationship Help & Advice For Stress

Plan!

Plan ahead by making a list of de-stressing activities that work for you and have them readily available when needed.  De-stressing techniques that work for one person may do absolutely nothing for another. Therefore, it is vital to plan ahead and know exactly what works the best for you.

Someone in the middle of feeling stressed out usually cannot pull it together enough to figure out what to do to feel better.  That being said, it is important to keep a copy of your list on the refrigerator, in your car, in your bathroom, office etc.; to ensure you can refer to it quickly and easily and then follow the plan.

Taking care of your stress level is not only imperative for your health it is essential in keeping your relationship functioning on a happy and healthy level.

If you are having issues in your relationship and need help please feel free to contact me here!