Emotional neglect is when you don’t pay heed to the emotional needs of your partner. It happens when a person doesn’t take any action toward the feelings and emotions of the other partner. Such type of behavior would make your partner feel undesired and unwanted. Today, we’ll discuss examples of emotional neglect in marriage.
Indicators of Emotional Neglect in Marriage
Before discussing examples of emotional neglect in marriage, it is significant to discuss the top three indicators and their signs, and they are as follows;
Conflict Avoidance
There is a widespread belief among couples and partners that they perceive the relationship as dangerous. If couples have experienced emotional neglect in their childhood, they would show discontentment and signs of fighting. They won’t realize that conflicts and disagreements are healthy and normal elements of relationships.
Two people can’t live in complete harmony with one another. It is because human beings have got their own unique values, beliefs, views, emotions, needs, and feelings. When conflict and disagreement come to the surface, then it allows couples to share the deeper part of themselves with the other partner.
However, when couples avoid conflicts and disagreements, then they avoid their needs and feelings. Your feelings and needs won’t just go away and they stay in the background. They result in the form of resentment, frustration, and anger that would jeopardize your connection and love bonding.
Some of the top signs of conflict avoidance are as follows;
- Couples have got unsolved issues and grievances with their partners
- When couples and partners become upset and angry, they employ stonewalling and silent treatment
- They put their issues under the rug because they avoid arguments and conflicts
- You avoid sharing your feelings and emotions because you fear that they would negatively impact your relationship
Surface Level Conversation
Emotionally connected couples and partners openly discuss their feelings and emotions without worrying about it. It is because they consider it a necessary part of their relationship, and it allows them to share their emotional needs, and discuss their feelings, desires, needs, and motivation.
If any of the couples have faced emotional neglect in their childhood, then it is difficult for them to discuss such issues that would involve emotions. They fill the empty space in their heart and mind with vacation planning, scheduling activities of children, current events, and news. While discussing things, their focus is on facts rather than feelings and emotions.
Some of the top signs of surface-level communication are as follows;
- Their conversation has got limited emotional words, and while talking about feelings and emotions, they use words like mad, sad, or happy
- You blame yourself when your partner doesn’t meet your expectation because you are under the opinion that something is wrong with you or your relationship.
- When their emotions and feelings come to the surface, they avoid or burry them, or they would blow up
Loneliness
Normal couples and partners feel comfortable and support each other in the relationship. They are aware of the fact that their partner would be with them in the good and bad times. Instead of facing the difficult time alone, they feel happy and grateful that their partner would be with them by their side.
Couples and partners that have faced emotional neglect in their childhood, would describe their feelings as distant from their partners. The elements that build love, mutual dependence, and closeness, don’t have them in the learning stage of their childhood. Sharing and expressing your emotions are building blocks of building intimacy and connection with your partner.
Some of the top signs of loneliness are as follows;
- Makes you feel that your partner doesn’t know you
- Feel alone while accompanying your partner
- Partner doesn’t feel like your teammate
Examples of Emotional Neglect in Marriage
Some of the main examples of emotional neglect in marriage are as follows;
Example of Lack of Trust
If a husband is always going for drinks with friends, trips with golfing buddies, gathering with office friends, and spending most of his time outside the house either alone or with friends. It would create a distance and space between husband and wife, because the husband is neglecting the emotional need of his wife, and she won’t feel trusted in the relationship. Resultantly, she would stop paying attention to him, stop waiting for him, and find other ways to occupy her mind.
No Sexual Intimacy Example
If one partner is always initiating sexual advances and physical intimacy and the other partner doesn’t have an interest in it. It won’t go on forever, a point comes when a non-interested partner would say “don’t you have something else to do other than sex.” Or any other type of shaming statement would turn off the mood of the partner. It means that couples aren’t communicating and connecting with each other, and they don’t know each other’s feelings and emotions.
Example of Communication Issues
One common example of emotional neglect in marriage is that you would love to go back to the arms of your partner after a long, busy, and exhausting day. When you reach home, then you observe that the focus of your hubby is on something else and he doesn’t even notice your exhaustion. However, he talks to you in a one-word answer, and you also talk to him in a few words.
If this goes on for months, then you reach a point when you talk to him in a defensive tone. It is happening because the husband is neglecting and avoiding his wife’s emotional needs for a long time. However, a point comes when she starts to withdraw from him.
Conclusion: Examples of Emotional Neglect in Marriage
After an in-depth study of the examples of emotional neglect in marriage; we have realized that emotional neglect has got a very bad impact on the relationship. If you are learning about emotional neglect in marriage, then you should keep in mind the abovementioned examples.
Ahsan is an accomplished researcher and has a deep insight in worldly life affairs. He goes Live 3 days a week on various social media platforms. Other than research writing, he’s a very interesting person.
