There are many things we expected to come out of lockdown due to COVID-19, including wearing our pyjamas all day, and even going DIY with our hair cuts (don’t worry, we’ve all been there!).
But what you never expected was the ways lockdown could impact your love life.
We’ve navigated (and are still navigating) a very strange and stressful time, and it’s totally normal that this near-apocalyptic state is making us re-examine our ways of living.
With regular life paused, we’re being challenged to take a step back and analyse how we can make changes to improve our health and happiness, but it’s more than just realising you want to change careers, go on an adventure or move somewhere new.
Your love life is in the spotlight and everything you might have been able to ignore or avoid pre-crisis is glaringly clear now…Which is probably why you’ve been giving your significant other the suspicious side-eye recently.
Trust us, you are not alone.
Here are some of the things that *might* be going through your mind (and changing in your relationship!) right now.
For couples living apart
-
You’ve realised you don’t miss them.
At all. Absence is meant to make the heart grow fonder, but you’re not really feeling that way about the distance between you and your partner right now. In fact, you’re in absolutely no rush to return to your significant other. -
You’re questioning your compatibility.
Pre-COVID-19, there were plenty of ways to hang out with your partner without actually having to engage with them on a meaningful level. Now that the distractions have disappeared, you’re staring at your partner on your phone screen, and realising that you have very little in common. -
You’re finding it hard to connect with them.
Whether they’ve gone MIA and feel more distant than usual, or you’re struggling to find ways to feel close when lockdown demands you stay apart, the end result is the same: You’re just not connecting as deeply with them anymore.
For couples living together
-
You’re far more easily irritated by them.
Living in such close quarters all the time has you scowling at their tendency to leave dirty dishes in the sink, filthy socks on the bathroom floor and wet towels on the bed. And while you might have been able to ignore it pre-COVID-19, now it seems like a deal-breaker. -
You’re wondering whether they’re really right for you.
There you are, staring up at the ceiling at 3am while your significant other obliviously snores next to you. And you can’t help but wonder: Is this really the person you’re going to spend your life with? -
You’re fighting a lot more.
The uncertainty and anxiety COVID-19 has created means your household might be feeling a lot more on edge and tense at the moment. And while pressure might make diamonds, it makes us humans irritable. Which means … arguments. A lot of them. Over the big things, the little things and the totally random things.
Which is all to say: You feel like a breakup *might* be impending.
How you view your relationship through the lens of lockdown likely depends on the shape it was in before COVID-19.
But before you utter those fateful words, here are three questions to ask yourself:
-
Are your feelings of discontent permanent? Or have recent events just gotten under your skin?
-
Can the relationship be saved? If there’s one thing we know, it’s that no relationship is perfect. Can your problems be fixed, or are they unfixable?
-
Is there a chance you’ll regret your decision? It’s normal to second-guess big decisions, but before you pull the trigger, make sure you’ve thought about question number two and are confident that splitting up is best for you.
Still feel like a breakup could be inevitable?
Get in touch – family law advice
If you would like any advice on ending a relationship and the family law implications, you can speak to one of Stowe Family Law’s specialist family solicitors in London, Birmingham or Manchester.
