Tips to help your relationship survive the quarantine

Love is NOT a battlefield.

HOUSTON – Spending a lot of time at home with your significant other sounded like a good idea. However weeks have passed---and for some couples, quarantine has put a strain in a relationship.

Matchmaker and founder of Marridate, Amber Neal, shares tips you can use to help your union survive.

China reportedly experienced a sudden spike in divorce rates after emerging from lockdown from Coronavirus. According to experts, Covid-19 is to blame for the increase in those numbers.

“January is typically dubbed as ‘Divorce month’ and quarantine is kind of showing the same results. Because at the end of the day, in any relationship we need to have balance. We need communal time with other people and our family, and then we need autonomy, just for ourselves. And this balancing act is what’s causing these two relational needs to not be met because we need to be close sometimes and we need to be separate sometimes,” said Neal.

“After a few weeks, if you guys don’t have a plan to put in place on how you handle anything that puts you in a survival mode, your home will become like a minefield and you’ll be stepping on eggshells,” said Neal, who shared five tips for couples during the quarantine.

1. Have a family meeting to share your needs.

"If you don’t make your needs explicit, your family won’t know how to give you what you need,” said Neal.

2. Change up your living space

“Clean out the garage and turn it into a nice spot for some alone time,” said Neal.

3. Go outside to get some sun and fresh air

“Go for a walk or work in the yard. It does wonders for cabin fever,” she said.

4. Talk about your hurt feelings and resolve them immediately

“Clean up your ‘emotional trash’. When something goes down, you want to make the time to come back and talk about it and clear the air. Use your listening skills,’” said Neal.

5. Appreciate your partner’s survival strategy

“Whether they saved money, stockpiled on stuff for the quarantine, or they can get food with one phone call, your partner is the one person you can count on,” she said.

To see Neal’s complete interview, watch the video above.


About the Author:

Beatriz is a producer for Houston life. She’s a dog mom who enjoys traveling and eating her way through new cities and cultures.