'Tis the season…that puts a huge strain on your relationship. It's time to learn how to beat the bond breakers.
Winter is full of opportunities to get close: romantic fires, holidays galore, snuggle-friendly weather. Yet the season can be tough on your love life. According to a recent survey, couples are more than twice as likely to think about splitting between the holidays and Valentine's Day, due in part to the pressure the high intensity period puts on twosomes during this time. But also because scientific reasons compound that stress: "Our energy levels are lower during the cold weather, and we tend to be moodier," explains clinical psychologist Seth Meyers, PhD. "Both factors make maintaining a relationship difficult."
You can't beat Mother Nature, but you can learn to spot these pesky relationship-killing winter symptoms and take the necessary steps to keep your bond going strong.
You're Looking for a Fight
Bitchy 'tudes have a habit of cropping up in the winter — in women and men. Being cooped up inside together for months at a time with fewer options for activities can contribute. But more important, the season's shortage of sunlight lowers our levels of the mood-regulating neurotransmitter serotonin, says couples therapist Barton Gold smith, PhD, author of Emotional Fitness for Intimacy. This makes you more cranky than in the summer, when most people enjoy up to 15 hours of mood-boosting sunlight a day.
If you find yourself ready to let the nastiness fly over, well, everything, Goldsmith suggests making it a habit for you both to get outside whenever you can…even if it's only during your lunch break. Being in the sun (wearing sunscreen, of course) for a short amount of time is believed to raise both serotonin and vitamin-D levels, which will make the two of you feel more like making love, not war.
Winter is full of opportunities to get close: romantic fires, holidays galore, snuggle-friendly weather. Yet the season can be tough on your love life. According to a recent survey, couples are more than twice as likely to think about splitting between the holidays and Valentine's Day, due in part to the pressure the high intensity period puts on twosomes during this time. But also because scientific reasons compound that stress: "Our energy levels are lower during the cold weather, and we tend to be moodier," explains clinical psychologist Seth Meyers, PhD. "Both factors make maintaining a relationship difficult."
You can't beat Mother Nature, but you can learn to spot these pesky relationship-killing winter symptoms and take the necessary steps to keep your bond going strong.
You're Looking for a Fight
Bitchy 'tudes have a habit of cropping up in the winter — in women and men. Being cooped up inside together for months at a time with fewer options for activities can contribute. But more important, the season's shortage of sunlight lowers our levels of the mood-regulating neurotransmitter serotonin, says couples therapist Barton Gold smith, PhD, author of Emotional Fitness for Intimacy. This makes you more cranky than in the summer, when most people enjoy up to 15 hours of mood-boosting sunlight a day.
If you find yourself ready to let the nastiness fly over, well, everything, Goldsmith suggests making it a habit for you both to get outside whenever you can…even if it's only during your lunch break. Being in the sun (wearing sunscreen, of course) for a short amount of time is believed to raise both serotonin and vitamin-D levels, which will make the two of you feel more like making love, not war.
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