7 Signs Your Marriage Is in Trouble | Broken Marriage Problems & How to Fix It

7 Signs Your Marriage isn’t Working

Not every marriage is perfect, and every relationship is bound to have its ups and downs and conflicts. So how can you tell that your marriage is going down a bad path?  

These reasons might seem very small to the outside world, but for those who go through such scenarios, the effects on their mental and physical health can be alarming. 

Unhappy marriages may lead to undesirable changes that could have a long-lasting impact on a person's health and allow previous physical and emotional wounds to fester. You must pay attention to the warning signs and act accordingly to regain your happy married life. So, let’s dive into the signs of a failing marriage.

1. Lack of Intimacy

Failing marriages can be challenging to identify, but often a lack of physical and emotional intimacy is a tangible sign that something isn't quite right. Emotional disconnection can cause strain on the relationship, leading to heightened stress levels, hostility, arguments, and low self-esteem. 

Because this type of breakdown in relationships happens gradually over time, it is essential to know what healthy relationships look like so that signs of what are marital issues and  unhealthy ones are easier to recognize. Checking in with yourself and your partner (for example, being honest when discussing situations that arise) is critical for determining if the marriage is still on track or if steps need to be taken to get back on track.

2. Control Issues

Both partners should be able to shape the other's viewpoint in a healthy relationship, and both should be willing to be positively influenced by the other. The ability to change or retain your position should be yours after your spouse has helped you see things from their perspective. Your spouse doesn't see you as an equal if they restrict your choices or influence them.

When you start to feel controlled, that is the point where everything begins to fall apart. In many cases of a broken marriage, among the prime issues noted, feeling controlled is the most common marriage problem. 

This control may be extreme and can restrict access to money or financial information, request access to your phone or private messages, choose who you can and cannot speak with, and obstruct opportunities.

3. Lack of Communication

Communication can be challenging, especially regarding such a complex topic as marriage. As any relationship progresses, communication becomes an increasingly important part of ensuring everything runs smoothly. Unfortunately, a lack of communication can be a warning sign that your marriage may not be healthy. 

Whether it's due to differences in opinions or just a lack of understanding between partners, failing to communicate can easily lead to resentment and disharmony building up beneath the surface. It's essential to keep those lines of communication open if you want your marriage to succeed in the future.

4. Keeping Secrets and Dishonesty

Keeping secrets can be detrimental to any relationship, especially a marriage. While keeping some small tokens of autonomy might be beneficial in relationships, once something becomes private and essential enough to become a secret, it can wreak havoc on the emotional bond between two people. 

No one likes feeling left out or that things are going on in their partner's life that they don't know about - it creates insecurity and mistrust. Even if the secret was told for the right reasons, such as protecting your partner from potential hurt or being too proud to ask for help, maintaining secrets will eventually lead to a broken marriage. Both partners need to remain open and vulnerable with each other if they're truly committed to making it last.

5. Affairs

Having an affair is often a sign that a marriage has gone off-track. It can be due to underlying issues such as a lack of communication, a breakdown in trust, or even a waning of the spark that once existed between two people. A couple might try to make up for this by seeking outside attention, but this won't fix anything. 

An extramarital affair often comes with guilt and regret, and it's not very likely to lead to different results than an honest conversation would. In that sense, an affair tends to be more destructive than constructive; it can damage relationships within the couple and beyond. Therefore, if marriage troubles are encountered, it's advisable to seek professional help or talk things out with one another - before going down the wrong path of having an affair. (But if you have, there is hope. It is possible to recover from an affair.

6. Lack of Trust

Trust is an essential part of any healthy relationship, and in a marriage, it can mean the difference between years of joy or abuse. When partners cannot trust each other, words and actions can become painful and damaging. With a lack of trust comes a sense of uneasiness between both parties, as couples question whether their partner is truly honest with them. 

This distance can manifest into further mistreatment or verbal abuse that ruins a marriage before it even has the chance to develop further. Couples need to recognize the signs of broken trust early on to work through the issues together and build an atmosphere of safety for their partnership to flourish.

7. Signs of Abuse

Note: If you are experiencing physical abuse or any emergency, please call 911 and seek emergency help right away. We are not a crisis center, and no information presented here is meant to provide help in a crisis. 

Abuse should not be normal! It's critically important to remember how drastically it can affect a marriage. It doesn't matter if it's verbal, mental, or physical abuse - any form of it is an unmistakable sign that something within the marriage has gone wrong. 

Abuse creates a rift between two people that often can't be overcome, leaving them unable to trust and respect each other. The victims of abuse tend to carry the scars with them for life, which makes it essential that we recognize the warning signs early and take measures to prevent further destruction of the relationship.

These signs of broken marriage need to be addressed and worked on if you are willing to give an honest try to rebuild your relationship. However, communication and un-opinionated support and guidance can help you move in the right direction. Look out for one of the best marriage counselors you can trust to share your concerns.

Can Marriage Therapy Save my Relationship?

You and your spouse used to get along like honey and pancakes but somehow, as time flew by, the vibe between you both, too, became lost in the past. Does this mean it is time for reinforcements in the form of Marriage Therapy? 

Marriage therapy is not gauranteed to save anything, but it can be a vital tool for you and your spouse to use to heal and grow stronger together. 

Acknowledging that you need help is a positive sign. Three principles are required for a healthy relationship: open communication, honesty, and trust. You can re-establish all three with the help of marriage therapy. Counseling for marriage can help: 

• Improve your communication 
• Strengthen the emotional connection between partners 
• Increase teamwork
• Help you be less stressed
• Give you a better perspective
• Help you and your partner learn skills to manage issues better and together

It's a false accusation or myth that Marriage therapy is a one-way trip to divorce or separation. Studies by the American Psychological Association estimated that marriage counseling is effective around 75% of the time. It takes persistence and patience to save a relationship. You must believe in the healing process and give your marriage time to sort itself out—meanwhile, the thought of getting a divorce shouldn't come to mind. 

With Lifebulb, you can find the right professional marriage therapist and the required help anytime and anywhere - in-person or virtual therapy, you name it. 

Conclusion

Marriage therapy is an essential aid for couples struggling with their marriage. It provides a space to safely address damaging patterns of behavior and thought processes and allows each partner to hear their spouse and understand the gaps. 

Through therapy, couples can banish negative cycles, build healthier boundaries, and become more effective communicators while learning techniques to prevent further occurrences of marriage problems in the future. Through couples counseling, you can break unhealthy behaviors and build healthy relationships.