Relationships are an important part of each individual’s life. Having good relationships is important for good mental health. We need to learn to recognize such red flags in a relationship that leads to our mental peace being compromised. As World Mental Health Day is approaching, we at Health Shots want to spread awareness about 3 red flags that tell you that your mental peace is being compromised in your relationship.

Surrounding yourself with loving and secure relationships is what keeps us at peace. So, if you feel yourself constantly in doubt about your relationship then you need to assess the things about your relationship that are disturbing you.

As Health Shots reached out to Dr Kamna Chhibber, psychologists at Fortis Healthcare, she told us about 3 red flags in a relationship that need to be observed and corrected for the sake of your mental health.

Red flags that your mental health is getting compromised in a relationship:

1. Unable to have conversations with your partner

Being able to communicate your feelings and experiences with your partner is extremely important, so a lack of that can lead to suppressed emotions and disturbed mental peace. “Constantly staying worried about having conversations, not feeling comfortable in openly sharing information, feeling that you are constantly judged or being ridiculed or marginalized in conversations or feeling that feedback usually results in a critical interaction are all huge red flags,” says Dr Chhibber. She further adds that “experiencing a stalemate in conversations where perspective building for both individuals does not happen, avoiding being together or avoiding engaging in interactions is very unhealthy.”

2. Always being in a bad mood around your partner

Dr Chhibber says that another red flag could be your moods always getting impacted while being around your partner or after having a conversation with them. Feeling low, sad, angry or irritable all the time is a definite sign of your mental health being compromised because of the situation with your partner.

3. Not taking care of your basic needs

“Losing sleep or your appetite getting compromised on account of situations within the relationship is another huge red flag,” says Dr Chhibber. If being tense, anxious or depressed is putting you in a state where you can’t even focus on your daily basic needs then it is time to re-evaluate your relationship.

But don’t worry these can’t be “break it off” points. If both partners are willing then these situations can be dealt with.

Here are some ways to take care of your relationship as suggested by Dr Chhibber:

1. Work towards trying to have conversations in a calmer state.
2. Break down problems into smaller pieces and try to discuss them in smaller bits.
3. Attempt to actively listen to each other or find an alternative vocabulary to communicate the same thing in case you find your message is not getting across.
4. Don’t refuse to talk about problems.
5. Avoid being dismissive towards each other’s experiences.
6. Avoid simply blaming each other and take ownership of what you may also be doing in the situation.
7. Recognise that two people will experience the same situation differently.
8. If you find things are not getting better, seek support from others in helping to fix the problem or reach out to an expert.