Interpersonal difficulties
Interpersonal difficulties relate to issues in creating and maintaining healthy and positive professional or personal relationships.
Social connection and positive relationships are integral to well-being and self-confidence. When relationships are positive, they bring joy to our lives. Similarly, when someone experiences a pattern of negative personal and professional relationships, it can have poor consequences on mental, physical and emotional health.
It is common for all types of relationships to encounter some problems from time to time, such as conflicts arising from miscommunication or misunderstandings. These can be positive learning experiences and make you develop more as a person, or strengthen your bond with the other individual. However, someone with interpersonal difficulties will usually show a pattern of relationships (either in a general sense or a particular type) consistently breaking down. These relationships can usually end in dramatic circumstances.
Interpersonal difficulties can arise from feelings, thoughts and behaviours that interfere with ones ability to bond with others. There can be a number of factors or underlying causes that lead to interpersonal difficulties. With professional support, individuals are usually able to move forward positively and form and maintain healthy relationships.
Signs and symptoms of interpersonal difficulties
Someone who might suffer from interpersonal difficulties may generally:
- Feel unliked
- Feel ‘unlucky’
- Struggle to form and maintain healthy and fulfilled relationships
- Show a pattern of broken-down relationships
- Have frequent problems at work with fellow colleagues
- Have frequent dramas with friends and family
- Feel irritable a large amount of the time
- Feel ‘different’ from everyone else
What causes interpersonal difficulties
Someone who has troubles with interpersonal difficulties may:
- Have issues with emotional and impulse regulation
- Have a pre-existing mental health condition, such as a personality disorder or depression
- Be suffering from some kind of trauma
Treatment for interpersonal difficulties
Nightingale Hospital London has a number of consultant psychiatrists and therapists that can help you through your relationship and interpersonal problems. It is vital you find a specialist that you can trust and work with on your recovery.
Treatments for interpersonal difficulties at Nightingale Hospital London can be as an outpatient, day patient or inpatient. Treatment is primarily offered through talking therapies.
Our approach for interpersonal problems combines an individualised programme with treatments based on current clinical evidence.
- Talking therapies and anger management skills can help with interpersonal problems.
- Interpersonal therapies and cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) can explore patterns and experiences in relationships and identify and understand problem areas, so you can determine ways to resolve the difficulties causing you mental distress.
- Counselling and psychotherapy give you the opportunity to talk to someone and family therapy can help you and your family interact with each other in a more positive way. For some meeting and talking with others can help them understand how they are seen and how they impact others.
Through therapy, we aim to give you knowledge and skills in dealing with your relationships effectively.
Useful resources
