When you take your wedding vows in Texas, you expect to live a long, happy life with your new spouse. However, that isn’t always the case. If your spouse is emotionally neglectful, you’ll find yourself headed for divorce.
What is emotional neglect in marriage?
While it’s natural for all marriages to have ups and downs, you don’t expect to be neglected by your spouse. Emotional neglect occurs when one spouse fails to provide the other with love, support and companionship. An emotionally neglectful person goes about their life with a detachment from their spouse. This results in the neglected party feeling as though they have been abandoned, unsupported and unloved. They might feel alienated and terribly alone. It’s not unusual for a marriage to end in divorce in this situation.
What are the signs of having an emotionally neglectful spouse?
If you’re married to a spouse who is emotionally neglectful, you may experience the following:
• Feeling like you’re alone
• You and your spouse don’t spend time together
• You and your spouse don’t do things together
• Lack of physical intimacy
• You feel you can’t trust your spouse
• Your spouse doesn’t communicate with you
• You feel that you cannot share your feelings with your spouse
• Hesitation to make long-term goals
• You turn to a friend or family member for support
Why does emotional neglect happen in marriages?
Usually, something triggers emotional neglect in a marriage. Often, it’s something that involves a major life change such as the birth of a child. However, one party having an affair can also trigger emotional neglect. If things get too far gone, divorce might be the only option.
If you have an emotionally neglectful spouse and you’ve tried to fix things through talking and therapy, sustaining your marriage could be challenging. Once you are no longer feeling as though you are a team and like your spouse is a stranger, you could be better off getting a divorce.
Divorce is emotionally difficult, but feeling all alone in a marriage is even worse. A new start may be what you need to feel whole again.