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Choosing Healthy Relationships

Relationships can be complicated. But it’s important to prioritize open communication and safety. Dr. Shelly Soltis, family physician at Grand Itasca, shares some ways to give your relationships a check-up and choose to make them healthier.

March 10, 2021 | By Staff Writer

Relationships are important in our everyday lives. They contribute to the health we enjoy, or they can contribute to our unhealthy habits as well. Signs of an unhealthy relationship can include:

 

  • Being controlled by your significant other

  • Fear or not wanting to be around your significant other

  • Being denied resources (most commonly, where only one partner is in control of the money)

  • Poor communication

  • Not being allowed to do activities or spend time with people that you used to enjoy—such as friends or family members

 

According to Dr. Shelly Soltis, Family Medicine Physician at Grand Itasca, abuse in relationships doesn’t always look the way we expect. “We are most commonly used to looking for physical abuse, which can show up as bruises or threats of being hurt by your significant other.” She continues, “Or it can be sexual abuse, where you're forced to have intercourse against your will.” But Dr. Soltis says that the subtler, more common forms are emotional and verbal abuse, which are not easily seen. 

 

Emotional and verbal abuse can include not having control of money or resources, not being allowed to leave the house, being restricted from visiting with friends or family members, and being called names.