The importance of relationships

Human beings are social creatures. We find support and comfort in our relationships with each other.

Relationships can be of many kinds:

Romantic

Relationship between two people that including physical and romantic involvement.

Family

The relationship between your earliest caregivers – your parents. Also your relationships with your siblings and extended family members.

Friends

Friends can be your most important support group.

Types of relationships

People get into relationships for many reasons

• Emotional support
• Sexual attraction
• Material benefits
• Bonds of blood
• Professional relationships
• Social relationships

The best kind of relationships are those that allow you to grow and encourage mutual respect. And those take some effort to build and sustain. Many times people are stuck in relationships that can be harmful to them. These could be:

Abusive relationships – when one partner pulls the other one down by verbal, physical or emotional abuse.

Dependent relationships – when one partner feels they cannot function independently, or they do not have a hold on their individuality.

Toxic relationships – when partners may or may not be be sexually attracted to each other but are poles apart in all other aspects of life, it can eat up either of the partner’s freedom or happiness to live with the other partner.