Gettyimages.com/Couple Watching Tense Movie
I love a man who has terrible anxiety. It’s not just social or general; it’s both. If he sees a slightly upsetting political rant on social media, he starts to talk about the ways the world is ending and how we need to escape to a mountain in the middle of nowhere. His imagination can get the best of him, and he is quick to assume the worst. He easily and often accelerates a situation, believing it is actually, currently, as terrible as it is in his head—but it’s all in his head. He also suffers from quite a bit of social anxiety. Coming home from a party often entails him analyzing a few interactions he had, wondering if someone mistook something he said, and worrying he has someone he needs to send an apology email to. I adore him, we have so much fun together, and between the two of us—when it’s just him and me—he has no anxiety. We laugh a lot together and are totally open and communicative. That being said, I’m very protective of him because of his anxiety—I feel an obligation to reduce his anxiety and fight it around corner. Sometimes, that battle alone causes me anxiety. Are you dating or married to someone with anxiety? Does this sound familiar? Here are signs your partner’s anxiety is rubbing off on you.
Gettyimages.com/A couple of friends sitting down, chatting and catching up at a cafe together.
You explain what people mean
If you’re in a conversation with your partner and another person, and the third party says something that makes your partner a bit confused—something that might possibly make your partner think the third party is upset with him or doesn’t like him—you jump in to save the day. You immediately say, “I think what the person means is fill in frantic explanation here.” You have to mediate conversations between your partner and strangers.
