We all were teens once, and all had experienced the typical teenage relationship problem. Teenagers are often known to be emotionally unstable and susceptible to vulnerability.
We often fail to understand their way of thinking, their emotions, level of stress and anxiety.
Although we all have passed that phase still when we are parents, we expect them to be more mature and responsible, which we weren’t when we were at that age. I am sure you can relate to what I am saying.
This blog post will discuss the relationship problems that teenage usually face.
Dating as a teen can certainly be complicated, exciting and nerve-wrecking too. You often are clueless about what’s happening to your body, mind, and the amalgamation of everything confuses you terribly.
Those who get the proper guidance in this don’t face any trouble in their teenage relationship but many are not so lucky and messed up their relationship.
This article will be helpful for both the parents and a teen who is about to experience their first relationship. It is always better to learn or get some knowledge before you jump into a new relationship.
12 Major Teenage Relationship Problems
One-Sided Love.
The one-sided love is one of the common teenage relationship problems. Many teens, I won’t fall in love because they really can’t differentiate between love and crush.
The problem gets intense when they think their profound likeness for the significant other as ‘love’ and when they don’t get reciprocated, that becomes one-sided.
One-sided love is a real thing, and it can cause serious consequences if not taken proper care of.
Often it has been seen that a teen who thinks his/her love is one-sided goes into mental disorder like depression or anxiety. They start to behave agitatedly.
I have also been in that phase of one-sided love as a teenager and I had also gone through sadness of being alone and not getting the love of the person I wanted.
Let me tell you now, as an adult, I can say this is just a phase and it can be dealt with if you want to.
I have written a compiled article on how to deal with one-sided love and it’s applicable for everyone. Read and start working on yourself.
Is it a Crush or Love?
It is common that teens confuse between infatuation and love.
Let’s understand first, what’s crush on someone?
A crush usually refers to a healthy romantic feeling where there is no physical love involved. You can have a crush on a handsome boy or a lovely girl in your class. A crush is a common term for ‘likeness’ or ‘attraction.’
‘Love’ is a more profound, positive, intense and deep affection for someone you care to be with. Love has no language. It is a boundless feeling one can have for you.
How can you tell if you are in love or you just like the person?
It’s hard to tell. You will understand when you are in love. It’s like your heart tells you.
Teens are always vulnerable emotionally, mentally, and physically. They don’t have the patience to understand what their heart desires.
For example, if your 15 years brother like a girl from his class because she is sweet and lovely to spend time with. He loves spending time with her, watching movies, studying together. He may feel that he loves her and wants to be with her his whole life.
At this point, he is in a sensible zone. Anything you say against will hit you back. He doesn’t know what love is.
Usually no one can make him understand, but with time as he grows up, he will learn.
Maturity Issues.
Lack of maturity is another commonly found teenage relationship problem. You can not expect from a teen to be matured enough to handle every nook and hooks of relationship.
Relationship takes time, patience, need to establish trust to hold the bond between two individual personalities. To be able to maintain a relationship, both need maturity.
That level of maturity only adults have. Often it is seen that a teenage couple is in deeply love but fails to hold their relationship because of lack of maturity.
Every relationship face issues and those need to be taken care of maturely. Only ‘love’ can not take your relationship till the end.
Teenage is a growing age, and it is certain that you will make mistakes. Those mistakes will help you take forward in your life.
Instead of getting depressed and clog your brain with negative thoughts. Try to learn from your mistakes and try to be a better person when you are in your next relationship.
Trust Issues.
Trust is the fundamental component of a healthy relationship. You need to be open and honest with each other. It is hard when maintaining the trust comes to a teenage relationship.
The brains of teens don’t work like an adult. They are impatient and can’t always process their feelings and emotions.
Teenage relationships are prone to trust issues.
There are so many examples that I can give.
It’s hard for a teen to maintain long distance relationship because issues rise the tension between them – Issues of jealousy, trust and so on.
Even if you are too close with your teen partner, you might break up soon because of ‘breaching of trust’ in some matter.
How can you deal with this?
To establish trust in a relationship, you need to give time to your relationship and help each other growing.
In the case of teenage relationship, time is not the best friend.
Communication Issues
As I always say, communication is one of the key ingredients of a relationship. Many relationships fail or end up in separation because of lack of communication.
The more you communicate with your love partner, the better understanding it will build and follow trust. Love alone can not carry your relationship forward. You would need the other key ingredients too.
For example, when you had an argument with your boyfriend, you both disagree and, in a fit of anger, stop talking to each other for days. As the days pass by, ego and anger piled up. Your boyfriend thinks you are wrong and you will apologise first and vice versa.
Do you think love can save?
Therefore, communication is important, which teens do not understand. For them, to keep going a relationship only ‘love’ is enough which in reality is not true.
Teens usually are afraid to be open about their thoughts and feelings. When in a relationship, they hardly talk about themselves.
Most times, they are together only because that’s trending.
Disapproval from parents
Parents usually want what’s best for their kid. When it comes to love relationship, they don’t want their kid to get involved.
Parents usually are afraid that if their teenage son or daughter is in a relationship, it will certainly hamper their studies.
They also fear of heartbreaks. Parents fear their teenage kid may not be able to handle breakups and heartache.
Teens don’t see from the perspective of their parents. When they feel restricted, they start opposing their parents.
Even if parents want to protect or want to make them understand, they disapprove, which leads to differences in opinion between the both.
Future/Career Plans.
When teens are on the verge of graduating from their high school years, they start thinking and making plans about their careers.
Some apply to colleges aboard or to a different city, some prefer to move out to explore the other end of the world. Whatever future plan one teen makes, it is certain that the significant other is left behind or separated.
Initially, they try long distance relationship, try to keep their relationship afloat. But over the time, when the relationship loses its spark, and love fades away, it’s the end of the relationship.
This happens all the time. Teens easily get distracted and they prefer to move on if things don’t work out in the modern relationship.
Breakups.
One of the most heartbreaking teenage relationship problems is to deal with the breakup.
Breakup is the worst thing that can happen in a relationship. We adults, though, can handle ourselves maturely, but teens find it difficult to deal with.
For any teenager, breakup is a huge deal, and often they find it hard to cope emotionally.
For them, the idea of going back to single or being lonely is depressing. When a relationship is no longer working, either of the partner initiate the breakup.
It is more hurtful when the significant other has no clue about the breakup. It leaves them in utter despair.
Therefore, moral of the story is teens can not deal with breakups. It makes them more vulnerable.
Thus, if something happens like this, you have been dumped by your girlfriend/boyfriend, you must seek emotional help from your close one.
Cheating.
Cheating is a common issue in a teenage relationship. The body and mind of a teen is very sensitive and changes constantly. If they get bored out of a relationship, they get attracted to someone else. Often, they act in instincts and later feel guilty about cheating on their existing partner.
Mostly, cheating in a teenage relationship is seen when a teen couple is in a long-distance relationship. When they feel lonely and want someone to fill the gap, if anyone shows interested or romantic affection, they get distracted easily.
Cheating happens in a teenage relationship because of communication gap, lack of trust, and unable to prioritise.
Commitment Issues.
When do you commit to a relationship?
When you are certain about your feelings, see your future with your partner, love endlessly, and want to get married. When all the parameters of your ‘life partner’ checklist get fulfilled, you show 100% commitment in that relationship.
Teens neither have the maturity nor have the time and patience to understand what ‘commitment’ means in a relationship.
The level of commitment needed to hold a relationship forever is rare to find in any teen couple. Teenage relationships are more likely to break up for any reasons.
They are still developing, it’s their ideal time to explore around the world and focus on their career.
When they learn about the responsibilities of committing to a relationship, they get scared and prefer to keep the relationship casual.
Fear of Losing First love.
For every teen, first love is always precious and memorable. Be it love or just a crush, it remains stuck in the heart forever.
I am 31 years happily married and a mother to a beautiful 6 months old baby boy, still I remember the days of my first love. As long as it is healthy, it is good to carry the memories in heart.
The feeling of butterfly tickling in the stomach when you hold hands, the fast beating of heart when you propose, when every visit feels like an achievement, you would never want to break up with her/him.
It is a common feeling in every teen when in a relationship they always fear of break up and losing their first love.
Abusive Relationship.
Being in an abusive relationship is torturous. Teens do not understand a healthy or unhealthy relationship.
If a teen boyfriend is over possessive and jealous when his girlfriend talks to another boy in her class. Clearly, it’s a sign of an unhealthy relationship.
But the problem is the girlfriend won’t figure out that she is in an abusive relationship. She would think that over possessiveness means her boyfriend loves her endlessly.
In most of the cases, teens fail to understand that they are in an abusive relationship. Mostly, even if they understand, they hardly tell anyone and silently continue to be in the relationship only because they are scared.
In this type of cases, always involve your parents. Tell them what you are going through. In a relationship, there shouldn’t be any space for violence, neither physical nor mental.
How to Deal with Teenage Relationship Issues?
Relationships are often not an easy thing to manage. And when you’re a teenager, they may seem even more difficult. There are always challenges to face in a relationship.
Every teenager is different and while going through personal development, often they fail to deal with their relationship issues.
Their hormones, body and mind desire things that sometimes seem out of place and not good for a relationship.
Therefore, here are some of the basic tips to help you deal with teenage love problems.
- If you are a teen and reading this article now, remember to seek relationship advice from a trustworthy elder. It can be your parents, brother, sister, grandparents, and so on.
And, if you a worried parent, help your young kid when they needed you the most.
- Keep your relationship simple as you can. Do not complicate things between you and your love partner.
Spend time with each other in knowing, help and support each other. Do not promise anything upfront, instead be the reason to be a better person for each other
- If your relationship is facing issues, talk to each other about them.
Maintain a communication and make a strong bonding by erasing the issues one by one.
- Do not let your relationship take over your life. You just a teen, your whole life is ahead of you to explore.
If you like being in a relationship with your partner, try to make memories. Be good and respectful to each other.
Conclusion:
Therefore, teenage relationship can be beautiful if you and your partner handle it with care and much affection. If your relationship encounters an issue, look for a solution mutually. If you can not handle it, let your parents or any trustable elder intervene.