My Thoughts on Being Dependent In A Long Distance Relationship
I've been spending a lot of time recently trying to wrap my head around the presence of dependency in an LDR. Since we are LDR, it's really easy to believe that we all are pretty independent in our relationship ~ given that we can't see the other person, touch them, kiss them, etc. How can we possibly be 'dependent' if we aren't as needy as some people in regular relationships?
Well, I did some research.
Turns out there's a whole bunch of ways you can still be dependent on your LDR partner without even realizing it. I, myself, actually realized I'm in a type of codependent relationship I like to call emotional codependency. I can do my everyday tasks without my partner (since I have to to survive lol) but my emotional and mental health kind of revolves around that person.
I learned that even though, this is normal for those of us in LDR's, it can be unhealthy if it is too strong.
There's a bunch of other types of dependency too, like Physical/Essential dependency which is basically like saying you need your partner around to do your daily tasks (like they give you allowance or are your caretaker or something), but your mental health doesn't revolve around this.
Finally, I learned that something called interdependency is where we should all be trying to get our relationship to. Basically, all relationships require some form of dependency to ensure there is a good balance of give/take, and interdependency seems to be that balance.
I didn't want to write an essay on here lol, but I wanted to share what I learned from a bit of research! I did, however, write a little bit of an essay here on my blog where I talk about this topic and even offer a quiz at the end!
Feel free to check it out and let me know if you thought it was helpful/thoughtful!
btw I am in no way any type of therapist, so please use your own judgment with this info. Thanks!
