- Date posted
- 1y
Please help me through this - is my relationship unhealthy or healthy
I 25 Female have been dating my boyfriend 26 male for a little over a year and a half (around a year and nine months to be exact) I would call him my first serious boyfriend because I never saw a future with my other boyfriend in high school and didn't seriously date anyone in college. When we met sparks flew and I was insanely in love with him. ROCD started to hit me when the honeymoon phase started to wear off around 10 months into the relationship (Is that too soon for it to end lol?) I was suffering with SO-OCD for literally 3 years before but luckily it began to wear off and I'm having more confidence with my longstanding history and attraction to men without needing to know for sure if I'm also attracted to woman (yay!) It first started when I would be away from my boyfriend and felt kinda numb to him which concerned me. I've always be introverted as he has too and never felt the need to be around someone 24/7...I love my alone time. Then it moved on into me being concerned my boyfriend is motivated enough. He has a job he hates an in January wasn't cleaning up after himself enough and neglecting the gym. I can say though we had a talk where I heard him out and he has gotten a lot better. I would scour the internet listing to relationship anxiety and ROCD podcast that would first give me comfort but then I kept seeing "this does not apply to unhealthy relationships or abusive relationships" I began to worry if my relationship was truly healthy or not when I was so assured before that it was healthy. I'll list some ways below it is very healthy and compare it to some "unhealthy" aspects or flaws in my partner and myself. (Because trust me I do not think i'm perfect but I'm trying!) Healthy Aspects: Consistent communication: absolutely not ghosting or going MIA after disagreements and we frequently check up on each other during the day Loving: Compliments, touch, date nights are all included Disagreements/fights are healthy: No yelling (BTW I'm sure we will have a yelling fight one day as I think couples do and it's normal sometimes -just not for every fight) No name calling, no belittling, no throwing things, slamming doors. We talk in a normal tone and try to get to the bottom of our issues. Their may be disappointed tones but we are able to both admit when we are in the wrong and apologize Effort/Thoughtful: Buys me a coffee when he knows I've had a hard day, will order me lunch, takes interest in the things I like Caring: Really cares about my mental health and how I'm doing We share each others phone passwords and have each other's location: I've not once worried about him cheating or being sketchy behind my back so I've never gone through his phone or felt the need to Has never made any rude comments about my body or put down my appearance -whenever I feel insecure he will tell me I look beautiful Reassuring: Tells me I'm not annoying or crazy whenever I'm going through one of my spirals Will be there for me: If I needed him he would drop whats he's doing to make sure I'm ok..it's so funny If i even stub my toe he will say things like "can I take you to the hospital" which I find extremely cute lol Extremely patient with me: I left NYC for two weeks last year for my mental health as I was having a nervous breakdown (thank you HOCD) and he was so patient with me and even though I wasn't with him made sure I was okay and was rooting for me. Lets me do whatever I want - I can go out with friends without him being jealous, I can go on girls trips, see family etc... Extremely generous with gifts for not just me but also my family and friends and his friends Has long-term friendships (I heard this is a good sign) and is a well liked person. My parents and friends all like him Unhealthy Aspects: This is unhealthy on my side but when I'm drunk I will pick fights with him over the phone which has made him not that thrilled when I say I'm going out drinking with the girls. He will say stuff like "just don't bother me or try to pick a fight with me at 2:00 AM when I'm sleeping. I have also told him that Alcoholism runs in my family so he has addressed his concern with me there. He can sometime make insensitive jokes and they will annoy me but then he apologies after. He's just a bit too jokey sometimes even though one of the reasons I fell for him was his humor He has expressed discomfort with me wearing revealing outfits - This one bothers me the most as their has been times he wanted me to wear biker shorts under my dresses. I told him how I felt and he agreed I can wear whatever I want but worries about my safety since I do live in NYC. He's never gotten mad at me for wearing something. (is this controlling of him?) He gets moody and quiet whenever hes overstimulated (on a hot summer day or in a busy street or store -he hates crowded areas) this annoys me as it reminds me of my dad. I brought it up to him and he agreed it wasn't fair and since then has tried to be more pleasant whenever were somewhere that would typically stress him out (is this not fair though that I'm not letting him express these emotions) I have ADHD and he is very focused so sometimes he finds my clumsiness cute but he has gotten annoyed with me when I'm not watching where I'm going to dropping something Are these issues that can be worked on? I feel like this is a pretty healthy relationship with some flaws but what do you guys think. I feel my partners willingness to hear me out and resolve conflict is truly one of his best qualities but I begin to worry I'm brining up to many minor issues or issues we already resolved because of my ROCD. Do I even have ROCD? I spend all day worrying about my relationship to the point of exhaustion, replaying memories, yo-yoing between my partners "bad" qualities and their "good" qualities. I'm truly exhausted and believe this is a healthy relationship. But can't healthy relationships be on a spectrum where there is a balance between healthy and unhealthy. Why can my brain only focus on the "unhealthy" but ignore all the healthy things. I really want to stay with my partner I think this relationship is good for me but I can't take this mental suffering.