Every great relationship is built on great communication. It can be described as the heart of relationships and without it, relationships will be baseless.
From start to finish, no great relationship can do away with healthy communication. That’s how you got together in the first place, right? Because when you connected, communication sent you swooning.
However, the fact it’s the heart of relationships doesn’t mean it’s easy. Having great communication is the hardest thing for some to achieve. It’s generally the number one issue most couples have in common.
So, how does lack of communication affect a relationship? What happens to the relationship and the people in it?
Here are 3 possible answers
1. You Become Invisible
Whether you’re the one who isn’t communicating, or it’s your partner who has checked out, the lack of communication is usually caused by both parties.
This often has its roots in different communication styles and what you believe communication is.
While some consider it really important to talk about everything, some others would rather keep things to themselves or communicate through non-verbal gestures.
This difference, if not addressed on time, can cause both sides to shut down.
The person who feels it’s important to talk about everything begins to feel less seen and the person who is a non-verbal communicator says nothing.
Over time, instead of seeing each other and connecting about things as you used to do, you only see yourself and your own point of view.
2. It Affects Your Health
Lack of communication doesn’t only affect the relationship, it can also affect your personal health.
It affects the connection you once had. Everything begins to vanish… the way you once made each other laugh, the words of comfort you shared when upset, the hugs at the end of each day… all gone.
It’s also important to note that lack of communication is in fact not always non-verbal, it’s also about communicating the wrong way.
So, in this instance, your communication patterns become negative. It replaces the ways you used to connect and create intimacy and end up taking a toll on your overall health.
Being in a relationship where you constantly need to defend yourself or feel like your partner has checked out, can cause low-grade stress and anxiety.
3. You Stop Having Sex
Communication isn’t just about the day-to-day stuff, it also involves sex.
For a lot of people, how much they desire their partner sexually is largely dependent on how connected they are. While for some others, sex is a tool that brings them closer to their partners and helps them connect.
Whatever the case is for you, lack of communication is never an aphrodisiac.
You also need to consider how your everyday communication affects your sexual communication.
You’re effectively communicating with your bodies every time you sleep with your partner. However, this can only feel good when you both talk about your wants, needs, and desires.
The only way your partner can fulfill you sexually is if you let them know what makes you tick and listen to them when they tell you what they need.
Communication problems are incredibly common — and solvable.
Communication difficulties are common and can lead to non-existent sex life, anxiety, and feeling unseen. However, they’re solvable if you work on things proactively rather than let negative patterns set in.
To do this, you need to switch the question from… “What does lack of communication do to a relationship?” to “How can we communicate better so that our relationship makes us happy?”
By turning the conversation around and focusing on what you can solve as opposed to what’s going wrong, the magic begins to happen.
Alice Ingrid is married to a wonderful husband and they have four children.
