Research from relate on the effects of the coronavirus pandemic on our relationships
Very recent research from Relate, the UK’s largest provider of couples and relationship support suggests that more than one in eight people interviewed who live with their partner agree that staying at home during this crisis is making them doubt their relationship.
Magnification of Existing Issues
The coronavirus pandemic, like other times of crisis or transition in our lives, is magnifying any current issues within our relationship. We are all trying our best to get through while stuck under one roof but can problems build.
Unprecedented Pressure on Our Relationship
Almost a quarter of people surveyed by Relate who are in a couple suggested the current circumstances are placing unprecedented pressure on their relationship right now.
The research also found that people are arguing more since lockdown and that money worries are an even more significant pressure than usual.
People reported finding their partners more irritating and only 17% of respondents who have a partner said they are having more sex than usual, so the jury’s still out on a potential baby boom.
Threatening our Most Important Resource Through Difficult Times
Some of this might not feel too surprising, but it is certainly worrying for our relationship health. We all have found ourselves in a bizarre new reality and doing our best to make sense of it. Many of us are facing an increasing struggle to maintain one of the most important resources for getting through tough times. In essence, relationships are the foundations of our lives, and when they are in trouble, we are trouble.
Get Support Now, Don’t Leave it Too Late
There is support available for your relationship right now. I often see a peak in people seeking relationship support after Christmas and the summer holidays, times when we spend an unusually long time together. These extended periods together often bring existing issues to the surface, and we should not ignore them.
Currently, we also have to deal with an extended period of social isolation, concerns relating to job security, general finances, how to juggle work with childcare and uncertainty about the future – and the rationale for post-lockdown relationship reckoning becomes clear.
If you feel that your relationship is struggling because of our current situation, please reach out for support. I am currently offering online sessions and can help you find a way through this most challenging of times for our relationships.
