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There’s no fight left.
Common sense would pinpoint having too many arguments as a relationship red flag. And while that may be true, so is the opposite: “Healthy relationships have conflict,” says Stephanie Wijkstrom, a psychotherapist and founder of The Counseling and Wellness Center of Pittsburgh. “A normal dose of disagreement shows that you are investing in the relationship.”
Without that, the emotional climate of a relationship can become stagnant. “When a couple isn’t bickering or disagreeing at all, that’s a sign that both members of the couple have given up and are feeling hopeless about the impact they can have on each other and about the chances of the relationship changing,” says Lyons.
You prioritize your friends and family over your partner.
While it’s important to make time for people outside your relationship, it becomes an issue if you’d always rather see them than your partner. “When you had a good day at work, when you ran into someone you haven’t seen in a while, when you find a $20 bill in your jacket pocket—who do you want to run and tell?” asks Raffi Bilek, a couples counselor and director of the Baltimore Therapy Center. “If you’re in a happy relationship, odds are it’s your partner. If you’re not, it’s probably somebody else.”
Beware of overly relying on friends or family for emotional safety and support, too. “That’s a sign that someone has lost not only the desire to bring their deeper emotions to their partner, but that they may no longer feel safe being vulnerable with them,” says Kimberly Ciardella, a marriage and family therapist.
Date night ceases to exist.
When date nights, no matter how short, become non-existent, or your partner finds excuses to avoid coming home (or vice versa), alarm bells should go off. “People use ‘being busy’ as a way to run away from and avoid being intimate and close,” says psychologist Mary Ann Mercer. “They’re also running away from their problems. They hide in all their activities and hope that things will just heal themselves, but they won’t.”
