How to improve family coexistence

| Having a good relationship with the members of the family you live with not only strengthens emotional ties, but also improves the self-esteem of each of the members. Follow these tips and keep good communication!

The situation due to the covid-19 health crisis does not leave anyone indifferent. What at first we saw as a way to rest from the routine, has been turning into a kind of prison, with a whole series of added difficulties, especially in regard to the family relationships.

Given the exceptional situation, it is necessary to create a new organization within the family and this can create discrepancies between the different members.

By spending more time together, some difficulties may appear within the family:

• Boredom or inability to regulate day-to-day activities can increase anxiety.
• Sensation of loss of freedomFeeling imprisoned can increase irritability.
• It is possible that previous problems become more acute; resentment for past experiences, different opinions, beliefs about important issues ...
• Resentment before the abandonment or demotivation of others.
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• Sensation of invasion of personal space which can lead to isolation.
• The difficulty in self-management of one's own emotions It can lead us to pour out the anguish on the other. Sometimes we unload on others the aggressiveness that we actually feel towards ourselves.

How to solve family problems?

 exist three areas of intervention in the face of problems. Those that are under your control and that you can solve, others in which you can influence and others in which you have no control capacity or influence. Based on all of this, you can:

• Identify strengths and capabilities: What personal resources do we have at the family level? How can we deploy them to the fullest under the circumstances?
• Identify and work on your emotions: rejecting negative emotions can lead to "false happiness" and a disconnection from our reality. We need feeling sad or restless in certain situations to be able to understand what happens to us and to be able to intervene in our environment. That does not mean that you do not have to train optimism and the desire to improve.
• Practice tolerance: it is possible that within a family there are different models of coping with stress in each of the members. Respect the ways others have of finding their own balance, even if they are very different from yours. Recover what may be useful to you in the ways of others and incorporate it into your way of proceeding.
• Make team: distribute tasks, establish schedules for obligations, respect your own spaces ...
• Commit yourself with your exchange actions. It is not enough to realize what is wrong, and acknowledge it. You also have to translate it into actions and maintain them. Consistency is a learned habit. Remind yourself often of the importance of your commitments.
• Make flexible: flexibility is the main indicator of emotional strength. In exceptional situations, exceptional measures must be taken. Allowing a certain laxity from the usual rules can make the family stronger in difficult times.
• Take care of the forms- Maintain an attentive, receptive, affectionate and involved attitude. It will make it more likely that the rest of the family members will also incorporate it and thus reduce unnecessary friction.
• Cultivate a sense of humor: it can be your best ally in difficult times. Be careful not to confuse it with sarcasm: this can be harmful.
• Also look out: this that worries me, does it only worry me or does it concern us all? How can we enhance cooperation to help each other together?
• Find your own space: privacy is necessary. Being well personally will also make you be better with others. Also respect the privacy of others.

Don't forget the classics:, share time with others, avoid arguing,… Assess family difficulties that cause discomfort in a more global way and make decisions. Crises are also an opportunity to change fundamental aspects. Sometimes a separation may be the most appropriate option when certain red lines are passed. Don't focus on maintaining the unit at any cost.

• • Having a good relationship with the family not only strengthens emotional ties, but also improves the self-esteem of each of the members.
  • There may be different ways of coping with stress within a family. Respect the ways others have of finding their own balance, even if they are very different from yours.
  • Flexibility is the main indicator of emotional strength. In exceptional situations, exceptional measures must be taken.