It’s intriguing to consider how shared behaviors between partners may serve dual roles in a relationship. On one hand, engaging in certain habits together—like unwinding with a glass of wine or splurging on desserts—may promote emotional closeness or resolve tension. These actions, seemingly problematic, often serve to sustain or enhance various aspects of the relationship in the short term.
But here’s the twist: such behaviors, especially when they become routine, can have detrimental effects on individual health. For instance, couples who use eating as an emotional cushion may find their health compromised over time. I’ve often noticed how behaviors, even bad ones, become embedded in a relationship’s dynamics, unknowingly impacting our well-being. The study from “Let’s Enjoy an Evening on the Couch?” validates this insight, linking shared problematic behaviors like an unhealthy diet or excessive drinking to larger health concerns like an increase in BMI.
From a coaching perspective, it might be worth it to steer conversations toward understanding not just the individual’s habits but also the context of those habits within their relationships. While our choices play a significant role, the person we choose as a partner can drastically amplify or mitigate the impact of those choices on our health.
In light of this, I’m convinced more than ever that our choices in a relationship don’t just affect emotional well-being; they also resonate loudly in our health metrics. To put it simply: your choice of a life partner is also a health partner in disguise. And that’s not to be taken lightly.
So next time you engage in a shared ‘bad habit’, maybe pause and think: is this serving us in the long term, or is it just a short-term fix?
You may also be interested in: Coaching Health is a positive sum game