If you suffer from Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), you’re not alone. Many of us usually don’t realize how many of the people around us suffer from the same condition and how it can affect a relationship, career, family and reputation. OCD was once thought to be a fairly rare but serious mental problem. Specialists saw it as serious mainly because the behavior of a person with this disorder appears quite abnormal to other people.
Codependency affects our relationships at home, work and in the community. It is recognized by the destructive behaviors, attitudes, and feelings which are directly linked to the way we were brought up. Families are described as dysfunctional when the needs of the parents are so overwhelming that raising children becomes secondary to the parents’ needs. Codependency in adulthood emerges from these dysfunctional childhood experiences.
Dirty fighting can weaken and ultimately break a relationship in the same way that rust weakens a piece of metal. Dirty fighting breaks the bonds of intimacy and causes cracks in the foundation of the relationship. These cracks spread and just like rusty metal eventually breaks apart, at some point the relationship collapses. Both of you ultimately suffer. Here are some toxic communication patterns to avoid:
Arguments are not necessarily a sign of a failed relationship or that love is fading. They are often just a sign that the partners are expressing their own individuality, and this is healthy.
All couples argue. This is a normal and expected part of any relationship. Of course, some relationship experts say that arguing is healthy, while others say beware. While an occasional argument might be unavoidable and can even ultimately clarify boundaries within the relationship, a pattern of habitual fighting left unchecked puts the relationship at risk.
Granted, when couples first meet, they may experience no conflict. This is the infatuation stage of a relationship when both people may feel they have met the perfect partner, and happiness reigns supreme. But as time goes by any relationship is molded not only by the similarities between the partners but also by the differences that bring interest, mystery, and complexity to the relationship.
Numerous researchers have examined the phenomenon of being in love. This refers to the stage of feeling whole and complete once we have found someone who matches the image we carry around with us of the person we have been searching for – that is, someone who has the positive and negative qualities of an imperfect parent from our childhood.
The simple answer to this question is ‘No’. In most cases money can’t buy true happiness. It seldom if ever makes a bad relationship good, nor can it improve intimacy in a relationship. People with the highest incomes often have to work long hours, and many of them quit these jobs and find work that brings them greater life satisfaction.
Once we adapt to higher incomes, it can soon lose its appeal. After a promotion and higher salary, a person often feels greater life satisfaction and happiness but in less than about three months, the higher salary can lose its impact on happiness levels.
Children are deeply affected by their parents’ divorce. They tend to handle the divorce better, however, when both parents cooperate and act in their children’s best interest. Together, parents should develop a plan beforehand about how they will talk to the children, be prepared to patiently answer all of the children’s questions and the likelihood of intense emotions.
Although some people prefer to remain single throughout their lives, most people strive to connect with and live in partnership with one special person. There are many obvious advantages to finding a relationship partner – physical, economic, social – but there is another significant advantage in that working through the ups and downs of a relationship allows us to come to terms with many of our own personal issues.
The answer falls somewhere in between these two extremes. Having to learn about our anger and what to do with it and when, demonstrates our difficulty in dealing with this powerful emotion.
