My girlfriend and I have been dating for just over a year now, and I’ve found her unwillingness to do nearly anything outside the home to be pushing me to my breaking point lately. She is a very anxious person, but I try to encourage her to not fully give in to her anxiety sometimes and do things with me.

Background: She has no job currently (taking the summer off) and walks my dog daily while I work, which I really appreciate. Sometimes she does some household chores if I constantly remind her to pitch in around the apartment, or at the very least clean up after herself. She currently more or less lives in my apartment rent free, and I don’t ask her to pay rent (When I say “lives in my apartment”, I mean she pays rent for her own apartment, but it’s much, much smaller and about a third the cost of mine, and she hasn’t spent a night there in over four months). She had plans to take a college program over the summer, which she ended up not going through with for no particular reason, just didn’t apply. Instead she spends her summer days taking my dog for a 45 min daily walk and otherwise playing video games and smoking weed all day.

The issue: I’ve been encouraging her to come along with my hobbies to get her doing nearly anything. I’m extremely into golf and working out, to name a couple hobbies of mine that I do outside of working full time as a software developer. I find it really frustrating that my partner doesn’t seem to care about her health or enriching her life, or spending much time at all outside of the house in the great weather summer we’re having. Her excuse is, every time, her anxiety. I managed to drag her to the gym one time, after months of encouragement, and she wept over it before we got there. If I suggest golfing with anyone other than myself alone (which she will only do if I can guarantee we won’t be paired up with another group and the course won’t be busy) she refuses and cries, saying she can’t. If I have my friends over, she’ll say she’s tired and lock herself in my room the whole time they’re there. If I invite her to do something with my family, she’ll say she’s too nervous. It’s really tough to see.

I’m worried and have told her that she’s basically resigning and letting her anxiety have full control over her life, and as someone who has dealt with anxiety and depression in the past, and has mostly recovered, I feel her enabling of it only makes the problem worse. She seems not at all interested in battling this debilitating anxiety. Is there anything I can do to help her? Or are we simply incompatible people?

2 comments
  1. She sounds like she needs treatment for her mental health. Don’t escalate the situation, talk it through with her. It’s a horrible situation to go through and she will already feel bad about being so idle. Remember she is suffering. Be gentle.

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