In one of our previous posts, we uncovered the secrets to an amazing relationship. Even though not everyone’s perfect, time and effort can make any relationship work. Luckily for you, relationships can have great benefits for our mental well-being, provided that they function in a way that everyone involved wants.
In this article, we’ll go through the advantages that relationships can bring into our lives. Note that our list applies only to relationships in which the partners are willing to work hard to achieve what they want.
Learning to Care for One Another
The first benefit that a relationship can bring into our mental well-being is the fact that it teaches us how to care for others. When you’re on your own, you forget how it feels to give love and care for another human being unconditionally. A steady relationship makes you more emphatic, and you become mindful of your partner’s needs.
Reduced Stress Levels
When you find the partner that’s on the same page with you, it is easy to compromise. If you do it daily without much fuss, your stress levels will significantly reduce. Moreover, it’s proven that stable relationships cause a reduced production of cortisol, the stress hormone. When you’re sure your partner cares for you, your cortisol levels drop, causing you to be happier and less stressed out.
Anxiety Reduction
Social isolation is linked to depressive thoughts and anxiety. Once you have a partner next to you, communication and mutual support help to reduce anxiety. In other words, a few words of encouragement after an unfortunate event make you feel like a little bit of weight has been lifted off your shoulders. So, if you want to feel less anxious, get in a healthy relationship.
Free Psychotherapy
Although you’ll probably invest a lot of time to build a healthy partnership, it pays off in the end. It is a free psychotherapy tool. Since communication is the number one factor that makes or breaks the deal, having the chance to talk to another person when you feel the most vulnerable and need someone to listen to you is priceless. What’s more, communication takes practice to perfect. After you learn how to say the most intimate thoughts that have been bothering you, you can create a closer connection with your significant other.
Better Self-Consciousness
It comes naturally to people that we want to be a part of something bigger and to feel wanted. It gives us a sense of belonging and faith in oneself, especially if there are few people we can lean on in our lives. You can create that feeling when you’re in a relationship. Doing good for somebody who’s close to you will make you more happy with yourself. Likewise, when someone else wants to do good to you, you feel more important and more self-conscious. If you’re in a genuine loving relationship, it gives you a sense of purpose and inspires you to help everyone else around you.
Healthier Emotional Relationships
Social isolation is detrimental to mental well-being. Relationships work as instruments to create healthier emotional relationships not only with your partner but with other people. Your relationship can inspire you to maintain stronger bonds with your friends and family, as well as encourage you to be more open to new people you meet. Lastly, it helps you to create more meaningful relationships in your life.
Better Mental Health = Better Physical Health
When we nurture our mental health, it leads to an improvement in our physical health. We already enlisted which benefits a healthy relationship can bring to your mental well-being, so here are some that show how our physical health improves:
- quicker physical healing,
- lower blood pressure,
- lower stress levels, and
- more energy.
The hormone that’s responsible for higher levels of energy is oxytocin. Also known as the “cuddle hormone,” our body releases it after we touch someone. It works as a stimulant and reduces pain and gives us more energy.
The last benefit of healthy relationships is that they can help you to live longer. According to Harvard Health, “lack of strong relationships increased the risk of premature death from all causes by 50%.” as claimed by one study with more than 300,000 participants. Therefore, it’s evident that better relationships lead to longevity.
How Your Relationship Can Improve Your Mental Well-Being
Love undoubtedly has positive effects on our mental well-being. It reduces our stress levels and helps us to cope with anxiety easily. Intimate relationships can serve as free psychotherapy tools when you know how to communicate with your partner. Moreover, a relationship strengthens your self-consciousness, giving you a sense of purpose. It also improves the relationships with others and helps you to establish a healthier emotional bond with others. Lastly, the amelioration of your mental health makes you physically healthier.