How To Support Your Boyfriend Under Stress? How do help him understand that it is ok to be stressed and not have everything sorted at once?
Men are often assumed to be stronger and someone who can never be stressed or tense. We often feel that they should be very reliable and make us feel secure. Not all men could meet set standards and it is ok sometimes to make it less complicated and let’s make it acceptable too.
In this blog, let us speak from our boyfriend’s mind, let us understand what he could be going through and what is making him stressed, and help him overcome it.
How To Support Your Boyfriend Under Stress?
Yes, men could be under stress too. Period. The amount of stress varies from person to person but I feel it should not be made gender-specific. Every person is different and their ability to cope up with difficult situations depends upon their basic nature to react to certain things.
I am not a therapist but I have been working in this field for two years and from my personal experiences I can share a few things which could act as a helpful tool for the readers. How To Support Your Boyfriend Under Stress? You can begin by asking a few questions to self, to segregate the possible answers. Are you dating someone who is stressed? Why do you feel he is stressed? Is it a career? Financial burden or his inability to commit to the relationship. Let us try to figure out the possible reasons for stress in a relationship and then maybe we can help him deal with the stress which is causing a botheration between you two as stress does cause a lot of discomfort in relationships.
Five signs your boyfriend is under stress
Sometimes there is a very thin line between understanding some situations which leads to a lot of doubts in one’s mind. For example, you might feel your boyfriend is losing interest in you or he is ignoring you but he might be too stressed. Unfortunately, the signs are quite similar and it gives a reason for your partner to doubt/question you which leads to more stress.
We often experience moments of extreme stress and look out for help and support around us. Strong support in the form of a mother, father, partner, friend or even a child. It can be tough to struggle alone through difficult times and identifying warning signs could be the first step towards helping our loved ones.
1.) He doesn’t speak much |
2.) He gets irritated easily |
3.) He seems to be losing interest |
4.) Prefers isolation |
5.) Mood swings |
1.) He doesn’t speak much
If you notice a sudden change in his behavior wherein he doesn’t speak much, or doesn’t share his feelings you feel anxious and then you ask him the reason for his quietness, some men might open up and say that they want alone time while some might not express what they want and prefer keeping mum, which starts bothering you.
2.) He gets irritated easily
You might notice that your boyfriend gets irritated easily over small things. He doesn’t like jokes and wants to stay in a corner of peace. How to support your boyfriend under stress when his sudden change in behavior causes a lot of arguments between you two? It could be a natural outcome of the situation but we can choose to be observant first and then react.
3.) He seems to be losing interest
There’s a very thin line to be identified between losing interest and being stressed, usually, the symptoms are the same and at times when your boyfriend who is under stress and needs help might be confused with someone who is losing interest in you and you may go over the board to blame him for everything bad happening in your relationship. Revaluate.
4.) Prefers isolation
This is one of the most common signs a person shows when he or she is under stressful conditions. They feel dejected and prefers to stay alone, they don’t feel comfortable in social gatherings and public events. You might feel he is being a spoilsport but maybe he is not comfortable so try to understand from his perspective.
5.) Mood swings
Some days he could be nice to you and some days he could be just off the hook and sound completely indifferent. You might feel disturbed with his behavior but it is his mood shifts which he is dealing with and even he doesn’t know what to do and how to deal with it. Be there for him.
Ten ways to fight stressÂ
Now, the majority of the population who is unaware of mental illness and how stress could harm our physical state doesn’t believe that a person could be under severe stress and it could affect his behavior and his health. Sometimes there could be a very valid reason behind the stress and sometimes there could be no reason at all.
How to fight stress and remain calm? How to maintain our inner balance and why do we need to remain stress-free at all? While there could be an end number of ways a therapist or practitioner could suggest to you, I will share ten handy ways based on my personal experiences and the life experiences of others around me, I hope you find these useful. You can either direct your partner to these practices or persuade him to join a few of such practices with you.
1.) Meditate
According to researchers, meditation is the number one most effective form of stress buster. Meditation can be practised for as few as 10 minutes each day, it can help you control stress, decrease anxiety, improve cardiovascular health, and achieve a greater capacity for relaxation.
2.) Exercise
Exercise is very good at defusing stress, it is just that the first step to adapting any form of exercise into our lifestyle is the biggest challenge for one. With proper and regular exercise, you burn off stress hormones instead of letting them pile up and cause pressure.
3.) Set realistic goals
We set new year goals, new year new me goals, career goals, and relationship goals, sometimes we do it to please others, impress others and overlook our own capacity to meet the set target, it is always advisable to set realistic goals knowing your capacities, you will be slow but you will be 100 % successful in accomplishing your goals this way.
4.) Get rid of unrealistic expectations
Expectations hurt, yes it does, brutally. This is one of the biggest life lessons I have learned. We expect so many things from our spouse, parents, siblings, friends, and kids that we unknowingly depend upon them for our happiness and when they don’t do things as we expect them to do, we feel bad, we feel agitated and stressed. Get rid of your expectations and free yourself.
5.) Visit a counselor
How to support your boyfriend under stress? You can always seek help from a professional if you are on the verge of burnout or you are feeling too dark and distressed. Sometimes we take things casually but it results in a bigger picture in the long run which does more harm than we could have imagined.
6.) Breathe in breathe out
Connect with yourself. Go for a walk alone, play your favorite music, grab those headphones and go for a nature walk. While you listen to music and breath with yourself amidst nature, you will feel lighter and energized than before.
7.) Pick up a good series from Netflix
Choose Netflix, Amazon Prime, or any web streaming service of your choice and pick up a series of your choice, and watch it. You will have something to look forward and it will keep you distracted, I would not suggest you binge-watch though but it will be a pleasant getaway to watch something new.
8.) Sleep
Sleeping is the best escapade. I mostly sleep when I feel stressed or when I find myself tired, we usually stretch ourselves like we use our cell phone till that last one per cent of battery left 🙂 and then we feel overused and exhausted. Sleep helps you restore your balance.
9.) Explore your city
Have you ever taken a heritage walk in your own city? There has to be something unique and special about your place, just grab your phone, camera, water, and some food and take a day-long solo tour of your city. Admire beautiful places and discover new facts about your city.
10.) Take a break
It works like a wonder. When nothing seems to be working, just switch off for a while, take a social media detox, be less accessible, in short stay away from things that cause you stress, and take time to repair or heal. How to support your boyfriend under stress? Ask him to detox. It is absolutely alright to give yourself a guilt-free break, it is only for your own good.
All the above-mentioned points are just a reminder, we all know about these, you must have read it somewhere else, or you must have heard someone else talking about these but the point is how many of you follow even five points out of these? Just remember to be a source of relief for your partner and be there with them.
If you reading this blog, you already are finding ways to make things work, you know something is wrong and it is bothering you, and you are finding some ways to fix things. How to support your boyfriend under stress? How about working on the ways now to beat the hell out of that stress and take charge of our lives? Let’s do it together 🙂