As mentioned in the impacts of love, love can have both a positive and negative impact on people’s mental health.
The feelings of unconditional love, non-judgment, independence, and security that come with a healthy relationship can boost self-esteem and confidence. It also reduces stress, which is a common denominator for various mental health conditions such as anxiety or depression.
On the flip side, bad relationships that are toxic from the beginning or turn toxic with time can lead to insecurities that develop deeper than just the relationship and affect a person’s mental health and future relationships.
The feelings of not being good enough, not doing things right, being unable to meet expectations can make one feel less of themselves. People leaving without explanations, cheating, and lying can give rise to abandonment issues that last longer than just the relationship.
How to practice love
As mentioned above, love is an amalgamation of various factors and feelings. To practice love healthily and make the people in our lives feel loved, we have to be open to love.
Having said that, there is no sure-shot step-by-step guide on how to practice love, but these points may help.
- Be more compassionate, take care of the people you love
- Be vulnerable, let your guard down and open up to your partner/parent/sibling
- Be willing to accept your flaws
- Accept your mistakes and realize how they affect the other person
- Apologize
- Forgive the people you love when you can tell they are genuinely sorry
- Listen to your loved ones
- Prioritize your time with them
- Make sure you are there for the big days
- Reciprocate their words, gestures, and feelings
- Show affection
- Appreciate them
How to nurture love
As much as love is an emotion, a feeling, and happens to evolve naturally, people in relationships must work towards nurturing love.
What is love all about in a relationship?
It is a mix of compassion, care, understanding, and various other factors, which need to be developed over time.