As human beings, we’re hard-wired to seek out love. We’re social creatures that crave warmth and affection from other human beings, and there’s nothing wrong with that. However, when you feel unloved, it can be upsetting, especially when you’re in a relationship and your partner should be ensuring you feel supported and cared for. Here’s why this may be happening and what you can do about it.
- Your partner doesn’t speak your love language. If you’re in a relationship but you still feel unloved, this could be because you and your partner speak different love languages. Perhaps you need words of affirmation or acts of service but your partner shows his affection for you by giving you gifts and physical touch. If you’re on different pages, it’s no wonder your wires are getting crossed.
- You expect your partner to meet all your needs. While there are many roles your partner should play in your life, you can’t expect them to fulfill all of your needs. That’s unreasonable and literally impossible. If you have this expectation, it’s inevitable that you’ll begin to feel unloved even though the reality is that your partner cares for you very much. It’s important to learn to self-soothe and to look after some of your own needs as well as relying on friends and family too.
- You don’t know what love really looks like. Is it possible that you feel unloved because your vision of love isn’t true to what it really is. If you grew up witnessing dysfunctional relationships and/or have been through many yourself, it could be that you never experienced what a healthy, non-toxic relationship is like. This isn’t your fault, but it is important to address this imbalance and perhaps seek therapy to help you work through your issues.
- Your relationship has run its course. Finally, it’s possible that you’re feeling unloved in your relationship because your relationship is over and the love between you and your partner has gone. This isn’t anyone’s fault, but it would be best for both you and our partner to confront that and end things so you can move on.
No one deserves to feel unloved, and if you’re experiencing this on a daily basis, something has to change. It’s important to be honest with yourself and your partner about how you’re feeling and also to take whatever action necessary to improve the situation. This could be as simple as opening the lines of communication with your partner or perhaps you really do need to break up. Whatever the case, the sooner you do it, the sooner you can start to feel better.
