This year has put more strain on people than at any time in recent memory. In 2020, couples, families, roommates, and friends, found themselves suddenly spending more time at home with each other than they ever had before. While people were socially distanced and there were fewer outdoor options, we were all now in each other’s faces and navigating new levels of relationship stress.

When relationships are tried, it can be extremely stressful for the people involved. After all, relationships are where we typically go for support and solace. When that support system erodes and relationships now become a source of stress, it impacts our life’s equilibrium. Our work becomes impacted, many people turn to destructive behaviors like compulsive eating, drinking, etc., and life can spiral downward.

When one or both partners are fighting with anxiety, mental health, addiction, or challenging emotional responses, the whole system of a family is badly impacted.

Counseling for a relationship can play an important role as it aims to help family members understand and manage emotional and relational challenges. A relationship counselor can improve dynamics within couples by addressing their specific problems.

What we need are new ways to manage relationship stress and adjust to whatever our new normal is. We need relationships that buoy us during trying times instead of weighing us down. Here are some tips you can use to keep your relationship stress down and build thriving ties with your friends, family, or partner.

Listen

Everyone wants to be heard, especially when there’s a complaint or some sort of conflict in a relationship. If you can, decide to listen first and speak second. Give whoever you’re dealing with some space to vent as well. Ask yourself is being heard or imposing your will on a situation worth risking the relationship? If not, then ask your partner, child, or whoever probing questions that offer clues into why they are acting a certain way.

Create Spaces

When you’re stuck inside, out of your normal routine, it can feel like you and the other people in your house are on top of each other all of the time. To combat this feeling of claustrophobia, create spaces in your home where you can be alone when you need to be. Time apart from each other is sometimes just as important as time spent together. See if working in different rooms or scheduling a night at a friend’s house away once a week can do the trick to defuse relationship stress.

Address Any Resentment

Resentment is the relationship killer. If left unaddressed for too long, it festers and grows to the point where it’s all you see. The best thing you can do to navigate relationship stress is to cut off resentment before it has a chance to build. Many successful couples do this by scheduling a once a week relationship inventory where you can vent to your partner or come up with solutions to difficulties you’re having. It’s a time where you can air any grievances before they have a chance to become larger than they are.

Have Sex

Having sex with your romantic partner is a fantastic way to eliminate relationship stress. Make sure the conditions are right so that you and your partner are equally engaged in the lovemaking process. If that means making romantic overtures or buying a gift, then make it happen. Sex is a great stress reliever and will bring you closer together.

The PT-141 Peptide

The PT-141 peptide has shown promising results in research tests done on mice when it comes to treating sexual arousal disorders. PT-141 was shown to produce sexual arousal in the central nervous system and influence sexual behavior in both male and female mice. It’s a different treatment approach than other sexual prescription drugs that use reduction in blood flow to the genitals.