Why Relationships Matter

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Emotional unavailability can cause slow, accumulating harm in relationships.

Practical support isn’t a substitute for emotional empathy from a partner.

Getting empathy elsewhere is sometimes needed if a partner can’t provide it.

You wear your heart on your sleeve, and you would do anything for a loved one. Yet, you rarely get the same support in return. You recognize that scorekeeping or having a tit-for-tat attitude is unhealthy so when empathy is not reciprocated, you try to take it on the chin. However, after months and years of being there for your partner, without them being there for you, even at your worst moments, you are depleted and exhausted. But you feel guilty for being angry about it. You remember all the positives in your life, and you trudge on.

If this sounds familiar, you are not alone. You love your partner, and they are occasionally supportive, but as soon as you open up about a hardship, they counter it with their own troubles.

Sometimes you feel like you want to explode. Understandable. You desperately want to get the emotional sustenance that you give, but it rarely comes. You feel like you are a house plant trying to thrive in a dark corner without sunlight and water.

Understanding........

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