Feelings of neglect often stem from underlying issues from within the relationship, the most common being a lack of communication. Sometimes taking a short break from the situation can make it easier for you to calm down before addressing your partner's actions.
”Childhood and adolescent experiences can impact how we experience present-day intimate relationships. Working on emotional issues before entering long-term relationships can help us experience more fulfilling relationships. Talking to a counselor is helpful sometimes when it comes to relationship building.” - Aaron Dutil, LPC
You want to have a good relationship. You want to be close to your partner. But, for a variety of reasons, you may find yourself feeling neglected and alone. What can you do about it? Instead of waiting for a miracle to happen, you can take charge of the situation and work towards change.
First, take some time to look at reasons you might be feeling neglected. You may recognize some of the sources of your feelings. You may even know how to deal with them. Often, though, people need help from a counselor to learn more about what’s behind their feelings of being neglected, practice techniques for managing those feelings and stay close to their partner at the same time.
Being Emotionally Abandoned As A Child
What happened in your childhood may be impacting how you feel in your relationship right now. In many cases, people look for the same type of relationship with a partner as they had with their parents. Maybe your parents never showed empathy to you. Maybe they didn’t show any respect for you as an individual. They could have been critical or overly invasive. Or maybe, they didn’t meet your basic needs. As a child, that probably caused you a lot of pain.
Some discuss how being emotionally abandoned as a child can lead to feeling neglected in adult relationships. First of all, you may unconsciously look for a partner that will emotionally abandon you. After a relationship starts, you look for and focus on behaviors that confirm you’re unlovable, just like your parents taught you. You feel unworthy, and you look for evidence that it’s true, whether it’s there or not. If this sounds familiar to you, you might need to talk to a counselor to get past the damage that happened to you in your childhood before you can improve your relationship.
Relationship Problems
Feeling Neglected Can Leave You Hurt And Confused We’re Here - Chat With A Licensed Relationship Counselor.
Another source of feeling neglected is often the current relationship itself. It may be true that your partner isn’t giving you much time and attention or helping you meet your needs. And, there could be a lot of reasons for that. They may be under extreme pressure at work. They may be preoccupied with raising the children.
Other relationship problems have more to do with how you interact as a couple. You may be having a hard time getting close to them because of disagreements. Or, you may have developed poor communication habits that are keeping you from connecting. And, they may be more than willing to give you the love and attention you’re seeking, but they don’t even realize you’re feeling neglected.
Fear Of Rejection
Sometimes, when you have a strong fear of rejection, you end up feeling neglected. Why? It’s usually because you’re afraid to ask for your partner’s help. You fear that your partner will dismiss you, be angry, or judge you harshly if you express your needs to them. The fear of rejection can often keep couples from being close and cooperative.
Meet Your Needs When You Can
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One way to deal with feeling neglected is to meet as many of your own needs as you can on your own or through people outside the relationship. In 1943, Abraham Maslow published a paper called “A Theory of Human Motivation.” In it, he described a hierarchy of needs, a concept that has become a mainstay of modern psychology. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is shown as a pyramid in which the wide lower levels are basic survival needs that have to be met first.
In a healthy interdependent relationship, you do rely on your partner to contribute. However, you also act independently so that you can also contribute. By doing all you can to meet your needs, you decrease the pressure you put on your partner.
Physical
Your physical needs include water, food, air, rest, and health. If you’re living with someone, you may work together to meet some of these needs. You might both work to put food on the table, for instance. It’s important to make sure you’re taking care of these needs as much as possible. Follow good sleep hygiene habits, like putting away electronics an hour or more before bed. If you buy food, make healthy choices. If your partner doesn’t want to exercise with you, go to the gym or for a walk on your own.
However, if your partner isn’t supplying these needs, you may be able to do more to take care of them yourself. For example, say your partner has a night job, and you live in a dangerous neighborhood. But there are things you can do to feel safer. You can lock the doors, avoid going out alone late at night, or even get an alarm system and turn it on whenever you’re at home alone.
Social Needs
Often, when you’re in a relationship, other social connections weaken. The more focused you are on your partner, the less time you spend with other friends and family. Then, you feel neglected when your partner is extra busy or preoccupied with something else.
You may be able to do a lot more to meet your own social needs. You can feel a sense of belonging and inclusion with a social group, club, hobby group, or volunteer project.
Ego Needs
Ego needs are generally yours to meet. Yet, often, people look to their partners to meet these needs. They base their self-esteem on how their partner views them. They get prestige from the status of their partner. Or, they get recognition from their partner. Some people even get a sense of power when their partner encourages them to stand their ground.
It’s healthy to get support from your partner in meeting some of these needs. At the same time, it’s primarily your job to build your self-esteem, find your power, accomplish things to get recognition and get prestige on your terms. Through therapy, the two of you can develop strategies both for supporting each other and for meeting your needs individually.
Self-Actualization Needs
Your self-actualization needs to relate to your development as a person. You want to be creative, wise, and masterful. This is something only you can do. Sure, you can have support from others. In the end though, no one self-actualizes because someone else did it for them. If you’re counting on your partner to make you the best you can be, you might need to dial back your expectations.
Communicate Your Needs
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Once you have identified what your needs are and met the ones you can, it’s time to communicate about needs. Sit down and have a discussion with your partner about what you’re going through and what you need from them. Or, you can talk to a counselor to discover why you’re feeling neglected and learn what you can do about it.
Ask Your Partner For Attention
It’s perfectly okay to ask your partner for attention if you feel they’re neglecting you. You can even talk to them about what they could do to help you feel valued. You could suggest that you go together to do an activity, attend an event, or take community education classes. Or, you could make a point to let them know when they say or do something that helps you feel appreciated. You can also request that they consider your needs when they’re making their plans.
Make sure you communicate with them directly about these requests. What can happen is that people seek attention indirectly by manipulating their partner. But when you choose to state your needs clearly and make honest requests, the two of you have a chance to work out a solution.
Talk It Out with A Counselor
Feeling Neglected Can Leave You Hurt And Confused We’re Here - Chat With A Licensed Relationship Counselor.
The reasons behind feeling neglected can be both serious and complex. And, repairing a relationship in which the two people have started to neglect each other is usually quite difficult. Without help, you might not be able to get your own needs met, much less build a strong relationship where you’re both satisfied with each other.
Talking to a couples counselor will give you many opportunities to identify, accept, learn from, and overcome abandonment issues from your childhood. Your therapist helps you understand the issues that are happening in your current relationship as well. They’ll give you tools and techniques for discussing your needs and building a stronger relationship overall. And, they’ll help each of you recognize your individual needs and work toward meeting them, alone in some cases, and together in others.
Counselor Reviews
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Infatuation Rules
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