How Boundaries in Relationships Can Affect Stress Levels
Boundaries can be described as how emotionally close you let people get to you. They say how much you are willing to give or take before requiring that things change or deciding to call it quits. As such, they can contribute to your relationships with your partner, children, family, and friends in positive or negative ways.
Responsibility Imbalances
- When you don’t set boundaries on what you will say yes and no to, you can easily take on more responsibilities than you are comfortable with just to please others
- Setting healthy boundaries helps you maintain the right balance in your schedule and in your life
Setting Boundaries to Promote Closeness
- Proper boundaries allow you to have close relationships that respect the needs of all involved
- They enable you to be independent and interdependent at the same time
- Most of us have some people in our lives who require a different type of response and need to be kept at arm’s length because they do not respect the boundaries we set
Feelings of Resentment
- When you continue to say yes to things that would be better addressed with a no, you might start to feel angry or resentful
- This can lead you to close yourself off and alienate yourself from the people in your life
- It can also potentially damage the relationships you’re intending to strengthen by constantly saying yes
Increased Conflict
- When you feel like the give and take in a relationship is out of balance, this can create conflict
- Conflict often leads to stress, which can not only hurt your relationship further but can also harm your physical health
- Maintaining healthy boundaries lets others know where they stand with you and can prevent additional conflict in your relationships
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