5 Tips To Help You Fix An Emotionally Suffocating Relationship

Feeling emotionally connected to your partner is great and healthy. It means there's intimacy in your relationship, and you can freely share your opinions without fear. However, as the popular proverb goes, ‘Proximity breeds contempt’. Being in love and caring about someone a lot can be overwhelming for both them and you.

There is a very thin line between passionate and being possessive. The tables can turn any time and you might find yourself in a position where either one or both of you do not feel that you have the freedom to be your own selves. Critical, overprotective and jealous behaviour may become a common thing.

The good thing is, you can do some things about it before it gets worse. Here are 5 ways to fix an emotionally suffocating relationship:

* Express yourself

When you're in an emotionally suffocating relationship, you may feel like your boundaries aren't being respected. This can become evident from the pattern of your communications. In order to fix the feeling of emotional suffocation, it is important that you express yourself and your need for boundaries. If your partner isn't aware that they're being suffocating, chances are they won't do anything about it. It can be an even bigger problem if they're aware of your needs and aren't listening.

* Make small decisions on your own and stand by your opinion

Couples who know how to fight productively typically last longer than those who don't fight at all.When you're in an emotionally suffocating relationship, it can sometimes feel like you have to agree with your partner or else it's just going to cause problems. While having a different opinion may cause an argument, it can be healthy. No couple on earth agrees on everything. It is healthy to make small decisions on your own and stand by your opinions, and to help your partner understand that even without agreeing on everything you can be in just as much love.

* Make space for your partner to do their own thing without any questions asked

If you are in the "controller role," practice allowing your partner to make independent decisions without believing that they're going to abandon you.Some self-reflection to figure out why you feel the need to have control over what your partner does may also help work out things. Healthy relationships give both partners space to grow on their own while remaining part of a solid team.

* Spend time each day for self-care

To create a healthier dynamic in your relationship, it's important to set boundaries for yourself. An emotionally suffocating relationship might cause serious damage to one’s sense of self-worth and self-esteem. It is important to spend some time each day doing things for yourself. Practice self-care each day by taking a job by yourself, reading a book, or writing your feelings out in a journal. Spend some time to focus on your health, exercise or meditate. Take care of yourself, mind and body.

* Hit the pause button and reinforce importance of trust

Trust is the foundation of a healthy relationship. Reinforcing trust in a relationship from time to time is really important. If you feel like your relationship is on the edge of becoming emotionally suffocating, hit that pause button. Take some time off to work on the issues. You can do this by talking to them about old baggage or being open about the fact that you have trust issues from the past and you're working on it now. Your partner should be able to do the same.