Our relationships with others are often a huge cause of stress. Think about that for a moment. We simply cannot get along with everyone all the time. A row with your partner or an unreasonable co-worker can send your stress level stratospheric. We have all been there – right?
And we all have many relationships to juggle. Boss, co-worker, wife, husband, sibling, relation, friend and even our social media “friends” we’ve never met.
Think how a bad tweet or Facebook post from somebody can make your blood boil.
There’s no escape from it. Relationships cause stress. So what can you do about it? Well, if you do nothing it’s not going to get any better. Just the opposite.
But a healthy relationship can be a great help in reducing stress because you have a trusted network of support. Who will help you. Just talking it out makes you feel better – right?
On the other hand, if a relationship does get out of shape – no matter how trivial – it needs to be tackled. Bottling it up and hoping it will pass may be an instinctive reaction, though perhaps not the best.
The problem causing you to be stressed may be so great that it is not recoverable and you lose a friend. Sometimes there is no way back from that.
Otherwise think to yourself what caused the issue with the person and what you might do to seek to put it right if possible.
It might be as simple as walking away for a while to let things calm down naturally. Do you feel you can talk it out with them calmly without adding to the problem? Who else might you be able to turn to? If it is a work thing can you ask for a transfer to another department or is there any help and support available from the HR function? Many employers these days have employee assistance schemes, counselling and similar.
No doubt a stressful relationship can be an uncomfortable situation in itself for many people as it is usually our instinct to try to get along with people and help them. However seeking to deal with it is something you will have to do if you feel the affected relationship is worth trying to save.
Our various relationship (particularly friends and family) are very important and a source of great mutual support. When one does go bad for any reason – even a minor row which quickly blows over – it is a source of stress which needs to be identified and managed.
I hope the outline given here is of help to you.