Managing Stress Without Damaging the Marriage
All couples face various stressors throughout their lives. Many major points of stress are caused by major life transitions. Difficulty dealing with these stressors can have a negative impact on the marriage if they are not dealt with successfully.
For many couples, milestones that cause stress include the birth of a child, caring for an elderly parent, the death of a loved one, continuing education and relocating. Various changes during child rearing can be stressful as well, such as the teenage years. How couples work together during these times impacts the viability of the marriage.
Learn some stress reduction skills. Learning how to relax or meditate can be helpful. Self-care is very important during times of stress. Make sure you are getting 7-8 hours of sleep and that you are eating well. If you are not fueling your body appropriately, dealing with stress becomes even more difficult. Also try to exercise regularly.
Learn how to help your spouse when your spouse is stressed. Recognize the signs that your spouse is stressed. Warning signs tend to include irritability and difficulty making decisions. Your spouse may appear restless and may have difficulty accurately interpreting what you communicate.
If you notice your spouse is struggling to deal with stress, be supportive. Give your spouse the benefit of the doubt. Try to encourage your spouse to participate in social activities and to engage in leisure time interests to help cope with stress.
When people are experiencing a lot of stress it can be difficult to make major decisions. It is best to wait to make major decisions if you are able to. Deciding where to relocate to, when to start trying to have a baby, or making a major purchase might be too difficult to consider. People make better choices when they are not feeling extremely stressed.
People tend to report lower satisfaction with their relationship when they feel stressed. It is important to keep this in perspective and to recognize that it is not likely that your relationship it has changed, but instead your perception may have changed. One of the best ways to deal with stress is prevention. However, when stress is inevitable, learning how to take care of yourself and your spouse can keep stress from damaging the relationship.
To suffer from stress would not mean that your relationship with your spouse should also suffer and be affected. I mean, it cannot be avoided but then again, try to make such effort to not let it. Try to make your spouse feel that he is still your partner in crime through all the good and bad times
Excellent article. If there is love and affection between the couple, marriage counseling will go a long way to help relieve stress.