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Helpful Tips to Help Resolve Marital Stress

Pandemics are Stressful - These Techniques Can Help

By Adam HeathPublished 3 years ago 3 min read
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Stress. It’s a normal emotion that most of us experience on a daily basis. From work, to daily errands, deadlines, meals and the like - it can weigh on us. However reports of stress and anxiety have increased drastically.

With all of the stressors from personal, local, financial, domestic and global events - the weight of these stressors on an individual may feel like they are heavier than ever before. Mental health professionals have been inundated with a surge of people looking for help to resolve these stressors.

When the COVID-19 pandemic initially shuttered businesses, one of the few industries to see an increase in business were divorce attorneys. With more and more couples and families spending more time together than ever before, the amount of divorce cases filed increased in 2020.

Why Did Divorces Increase in 2020?

There are several reasons that contributed to the spike in divorces in 2020. With most social interactions grinding to a halt, many couples were left with no one to vent to but one-another. Since humans are social beings, many people had to pivot significantly. That happy hour beer was replaced with a happy hour with the spouse. The exercise and endorphins we got from the gym were replaced with creative at home workouts - also with the spouse.

Any venting we once had or were able to express outside the confines of a home or a marriage, were largely replaced with expression and communication to a spouse. The lack of social interaction and healthy ways to alleviate prior stressors, devolved into marital stressors that, in some cases, lead to divorces.

How To Manage Stress & Strengthen Wellbeing

In marriage, stress is common. Whether from children, finances, in-laws or pretty much anything else the world can throw at a couple. However, over the better part of 2020 and the beginning of 2021, external stressors (out of our control) have greatly compounded on the already existing internal stressors (within our control). To help better cope with marital stressors, implement the following techniques.

Get Better Sleep

One of the best ways to help alleviate stress is to get better sleep. Only use your bedroom for sleep and relations with your partner. If you have a TV in your bedroom, consider removing the television and reading to unwind at the end of the day instead.

A bed should be your haven inside your own home, and surrounding one’s bed with comfortable blankets and pillows can help alleviate stress and enable couples to snuggle up with one another.

Minimize Screens, News & Social Media

With so much news and screens, it is easy to lose track of how much we’ve become accustomed to looking at screens. A recent study outlined that the average individual will spend more than 34 years of their lives staring at screens.

Apple has built in reporting metrics that help users identify the amount of time and categories of applications that they spend their time on. Monitor these metrics, you may be surprised how much time it’s possible to spend in front electronic devices.

Reach Out to the Professionals

If you and your spouse feel like you’ve exhausted every resource available, it may be best to reach out to the professionals. Marriage counselors and mental health professionals can offer options, resources and techniques that help alleviate marital stressors.

Mental health professionals can help identify the biggest stressors and establish better methods of communication within a relationship.

With the extra amount of new time that couples have together, it is important to bond over something that doesn't require looking at a screen or discussing current events. Cooking and performing manual work can help work through stressors and help re-establish the comradery that has made that marital bond so strong.

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About the Creator

Adam Heath

Adam graduated from Chico State with a degree in History and works in the digital marketing sector. An avid fan of baseball, you can find him sitting in Petco Park's bleachers or wolfing down a burrito in his free time.

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