Troubled Relationships

Abstract

One’s interpersonal relationships substantially affect one’s well-being. Indeed, clinicians and counselors have long recognized that a person’s social relations are central to normal adjustment (e.g., Henderson, 1977; Sullivan, 1953). In his investigation of happiness, Freedman (1978) suggested that:

there is no simple recipe for producing happiness, but all of the research indicates that for almost everyone one necessary ingredient is some kind of satisfying, intimate relationship... people who are lucky enough to be happy in love, sex, and marriage are more likely to be happy with life in general than any other people. (p. 48)

Beyond mere unhappiness, argued Duck and Gilmour (1981), “the disturbed interpersonal context of the lives of many sorts of persons can be a crucial influence on their tendency to commit violent crime, to experience clinical depression, or to resort to abuse of alcohol or drugs” (p. viii). The experiences of separation and divorce are clearly correlated with psychopathology (Bloom, Asher, & White, 1978). Even physical health problems can be traced to the breakdown of relationships (House, Robbins, & Metzner, 1982; Lynch, 1977; Stroebe & Stroebe, 1983).