: How Passive Aggressive Behavior Hurts Marriage

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(427 Words)
Passive aggressive behavior can hurt marriage in a variety of ways. It is important to address it as soon as possible to avoid the following issues.
Communication is often stunted because of the behavior
When someone is passively aggressive they are often not actively showing their anger to the other person. That does not mean that they are not feeling negative feelings, however. They are choosing voluntarily or involuntarily not to communicate it in a healthy and helpful manner but instead to act out. This is a lack of communication between the two parties. When a married couple does not communicate well, it can put a strain on the marriage. The members can often feel this lack of communication by not feeling as close with each other. Emotional intimacy could be affected.
The other person may get hurt by the passive aggressive behavior
Passive aggressive behavior can be hurtful. It can inspire negative feelings in the other person. They may not know whether you are trying to hurt them or doing so inadvertently, but in any case, they may just feel bad. These negative feelings can also affect the marriage as a whole. Your spouse may not understand why you are acting the way that you are. They may feel guilt about it or bad about themselves because of it. They may also start to get defensive and display the same sort of behavior. They may feel like they do not know you anymore. From there the marriage could go on a whirlwind spiral down.
The person showing the passive aggressive behavior often has trouble because they cannot get out their emotions in a healthy way
It is difficult when you have negative feelings inside of you. Sometimes they will manifest themselves even if you do not want them to, and this can be through passive aggressive behavior. Yet unlike when you get these feelings out in a healthy manner, this behavior might instead make you feel worse. You may realize that you are acting in a negative manner and feel bad about it but not know what to do to stop it. These bad feelings may start to make you feel bad about the marriage, too. You may feel terrible that you are hurting your spouse.
Passive aggressive behavior can negatively affect marriage in many different ways. If you feel that it is occurring in your marriage then you should take the necessary steps to stop it such as talking to your spouse if it is them or altering your own behavior if it is you.