Although people might beg to differ, dating is in fact a pretty difficult thing on its own; the task becomes even more demanding if you are dating someone with anxiety. When your partner finds himself or herself feeling hard to keep cool and under control, keeping a relationship going can become that much harder regardless of your age or duration of the relationship. It is understandable that most people would choose to walk away from such a relationship. But if you want to keep the relationship going, there are a number of things that partners of people battling anxiety must know to maintain the relationship and help your loved ones as best as they can.
8 Love Tips for Dating Someone with Anxiety
Exercise as a group
Exercising is extremely beneficial for people struggling with anxiety. First of all, regular exercise releases endorphins, chemicals that relax a person and improve the mood, in their brains. Secondly, exercise can help reduce the severity of anxiety symptoms by calming the muscles. Thirdly, it can help them in feeling better about their fitness which consequently improves their confidence and allows them to talk freely with others. Therefore, exercising together with partner battling anxiety can help with controlling their anxiety issues.
Don't start expecting too much
Expectations can be real tough to handle in a relationship. When dating someone with anxiety, it is important not to start expecting too much from them as this is going to put pressure on the partner and the relationship would not survive. Therefore, it is best to lower your expectation from the partner and do not think too much about the relationship because when you are not looking for a relationship, it is highly likely that you are going to start one.
Engage your partner in conversation
If you want to know how to help your partner with anxiety then the best suggestion would be to try and engage her in a conversation. People struggling with anxiety usually have an anxiety attack because they remain quiet and keep all their feelings inside them. They wait for others to start talking and experience anticipatory anxiety. By engaging them in a conversation and letting them talk out their fear, you can eliminate their anticipatory anxiety and help them relax.
Socialize with other people
Socializing and meeting with new people is vital for people with anxiety issues as it can help them relax and increase their confidence. Moreover, it can also help them in opening up to others. Therefore, it is important that you take your partners out and let them meet others so that they can regain their confidence and are better able to cope with their social anxieties. However, do remember to remain close by so that they do not feel left out or alone.
Make boundaries and respect them
Setting boundaries when dating someone with anxiety is also important and you must respect these boundaries as well. People with anxiety issues can get anxious or stressed if they start thinking about consequences. Therefore, it is best to decide on a start and end time for a date and then stick to it. During conversations on a date, make sure that you do not keep on blabbing mindlessly as it would make the partner stressed for not contributing to the conversation.
Be tolerant
Being tolerant with a partner suffering from panic and anxiety is extremely helpful especially if he is having the panic attack in a bar. Usually such people are not likely to have an attack on their first date, but with successive dates their chances of having a stress episode increases. So, if your boyfriend suddenly starts feeling anxious then be patient and take him to a place where he can calm down instead of yelling at him or asking him to calm down.
Take notes of the important drugs
If you think your boyfriend has anxiety, what can you do? One thing you can help is to learn about the drugs that have been prescribed to him as it can help you in managing his condition better and improve the relationship. Besides, doing this make you capable of giving the drugs whenever he has a panic attack. Moreover, it is also important to remain aware of the side effects of the antidepressants which include insomnia, weight gain, nervousness and drowsiness.
Care about both of you
Taking care of one another is important in a relationship more so if your partner suffers from anxiety. For people battling anxiety, it is essential to have a licensed therapist that can help them in focusing on the signals of their body regarding sleep, stress and diet. The supportive partner must take care of anxious partner with love and kindness but this is not all. The supportive person also needs to be cared. It is important to remember that curing the partner's anxiety is not possible for one to accomplish alone. Both of you two must make equal contribution so that one partner is not exhausted with the constant giving.
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