The stress of being cooped up at home all the time is truly testing people’s patience. Add to that the constant anxiety caused by all the uncertainty, financial turmoil, and health worries and it can really take a toll on relationship health.

Some essential advice to keep the peace and to help keep your relationship together during the pandemic includes these therapeutic suggestions:

• Make a date—Even though your normal, primary date night activities like dinner and the movies may be on hold for now, you and your partner still need to spend at least an hour or two alone together to step away from pandemic mode and reconnect with your partner.
• Catch me some slack!—Everybody is under an enormous amount of stress, pressure, and anxiety during these troubling times, and it can be nearly impossible to always be on our best behavior. Try to let a nasty tone or snippy comments slide and avoid escalation. Ill temper and impatience are all around and it’s time to find compassion to keep conflicts from getting out of control. You will feel better for it.
• Stick to a quarantine routine—Especially where young kids are involved, it can relieve a huge amount of stress and anxiety by having a set routine for meal prep, leisure activities, family time, and alone time.
• Try to avoid character assassination at this time—Some couples are thriving during quarantine and others are really struggling, especially if they were struggling before the pandemic struck. You can try to tackle small grievances if you don’t stray from the topic but avoid making critical remarks. Seek online couples therapy to help.

And if a foot or ankle problem is contributing to your bad mood, be sure to contact your podiatrist and get it taken care of. At Your Next Step, our team of board-certified podiatrists has access to advanced technologies, along with years of experience, to help diagnose and treat a variety of foot and ankle problems, including sports injuries, joint pain, toe deformities, nail fungus, chronic tendon pain, and skin problems. Dr. Eric Ricefield, Dr. Mark Yagodich and Dr. Aliza V. Eisen provide high-quality foot and ankle care to patients in the greater Philadelphia area at our offices conveniently located in Ardmore, Paoli, and Downingtown, PA. Please contact us for more information or to schedule an appointment.