6 Concrete Signs Your Relationship Is Lacking Communication

Communication is the key to a healthy relationship. You need to feel comfortable discussing even the most uncomfortable topics with your partner because if they aren’t aware of your thoughts and feelings, they won’t be able to meet your expectations and make you happy. Honesty and transparency is best for everyone. Here are some concrete signs your relationship is lacking that crucial communication:

You’re always facing misunderstandings.

If you keep having silly arguments due to misunderstandings, that means you aren’t communicating your feelings effectively in the first place. You don’t want to wait until you’re both pissed off to sit down and have a conversation where you explain your side of the story. You should consistently be checking in with each other about your feelings. And if you’re upset about something, big or small, bring it up to them. Clear up those misunderstandings before they snowball into something bigger.

You keep having the same arguments over and over again.

If you keep coming back to the same old arguments, you must not have solved the underlying problem. The goal should be to grow from every argument that occurs. You want to learn and adapt so you can become even better partners to each other. If the opposite is true, and you keep having repeat fights over and over again, either you need to come to a compromise that will prevent this from happening again — or you need to talk about separating. But what isn’t going to work is having the same fight every few weeks. That’s a recipe for unhappiness.

You feel like you’re always the last to find out important information.

You shouldn’t feel like you’re your partner’s last priority. You shouldn’t feel like they’re telling all their friends and family members big news before it trickles down to you. And your partner shouldn’t feel that way about you either. You need to remember to talk to each other, even when you’ve been together for ages. Never stop acting like friends. Never stop sharing your biggest dreams and fears. Otherwise, the emotional intimacy will suffer.

You feel uneasy, like something is wrong, but don’t know what it is.

While it’s important to give your partner space and time to think through their feelings, you can’t let them stay silent forever. If they aren’t comfortable opening up to you about what’s bothering them (even if it has nothing to do with you), then it’s going to erode the relationship. You should both feel safe with each other. You should feel comfortable acting vulnerable with each other. If there are too many secrets, you’re better off apart because you’re never going to feel completely at ease.

You keep wondering whether their feelings have changed.

Relationships will change over time, but you should never feel like your person has lost interest. You should give each other compliments and say those three little words, even if you have been together forever. Even if you assume they already know how you feel. Whether your partner needs reassurance or not, it never hurts to spread love. It never hurts to remind them how much they mean to you and how fortunate you feel to have them in your world.

You aren’t sure how to make them happy.

You aren’t a mind reader. And neither is your partner. You both need to be brutally honest about what you want from this relationship if you want it to last. If you don’t open up about what you want, how are they going to give it to you? The first step is always talking about it.