Can there be any area of life where hope triumphs over experience more than in romantic relationships? From song lyrics and novels to the silver screen, we are bombarded with the message that out there somewhere is a prince, and when we find him we will somehow magically live happily ever after. Cue power ballad crescendo. Credits roll. We walk off into the sunset.
The trouble is, no-one ever asks ‘Then what?’ What happens when the sparkly pixie dust wears off and it feels suspiciously like that prince we found is, if not sprouting actual webbed feet, then at least beginning to develop certain toad-like tendencies? Conflicts arise, and no wonder – we’re all facing more stresses and demands, spinning more plates in the air than any previous generation. And it’s our relationship with our significant other that often bears the brunt of these strains.
So what do you do when you feel things have gone so far off track that you wonder if you even have a future together at all, let alone a happy-ever-after one? We have five mindset shifts to help future-proof your love story.
1 BOREDOM ISN’T NECESSARILY BAD NEWS
For many couples, the rot sets in when the honey moon period wears off. But scientists have discovered this is caused by simple brain chemistry and is not a sign you have become incompatible or gone off each other. In her book Why We Love: The Nature and Chemistry of Romantic Love (Holt McDougal, £10.99), anthropologist Helen Fisher observes that the brains of people who are madly in love look markedly different from the brain scans of people who are not. She likened romantic love to being akin to an addiction, which triggers the area of the brain associated with craving and obsession.
READ MORE
Purchase options below
Find the complete article and many more in this issue of
Psychologies
-
No. 124 Too Much To Do?
If you own the issue,
Login to read the full article now.
|
Single Issue - No. 124 Too Much To Do?
|
|
|
FREE
|
|
Read Now!
Getting free sample issues is easy, but we need to add it to an account to read, so please follow the instructions to read your free issue today.
New Pocketmags User - Enter Details below
Existing User - Enter Password
|
Annual Digital Subscription
Only $
1.38 per issue
|
SAVE
62%
|
|
|
|
|
6 Month Digital Subscription
Only $
2.61 per issue
|
SAVE
29%
|
|
$16.99
Or 1699 points
|
|
|
Monthly Digital Subscription
Only $
3.68 per issue
|
|
|
$3.99
Or 399 points
|
|
|
About Psychologies
Psychologies January 2016 - Too Much To Do?