Last Wednesday we of course had Valentine’s Day, so romance, relationships and such like, are very much the flavour of the week.

There’s no doubt about it, having a great relationship with a significant-other, can do wonders for our mental health and sense of general well-being.

However, those flushes of feeling wonderful when we first meet ‘the one’ can cause us to throw logic out of the window. It’s perfectly natural, the emotional part of the mind follows instinct rather than logic, affecting how we act and feel.

When we are in the early throws of a relationship, we can become a little detached from reality and see the person through rose-tinted glasses.

Once we become invested in a relationship and it naturally progresses, life events will happen, such as having children, changing jobs, moving home etc.

It is easy for daily life to take its toll and test even the most solid of relationships.

All relationships take effort, understanding and patience to grow and flourish. All relationships can become strained from time to time. I’ve put a few pointers together for you this week, to explain how to have a mentally healthy relationship.

1. Boundaries – setting your own and respecting your partner’s. If we don’t state boundaries, we can’t expect people to know what they are. Similarly, we need to find out what red-lines our partner may have, that we should not cross. The only way to do this, brings me to my second point.

2. Good and open communication is key to a healthy relationship. It helps to clear misunderstandings, solve problems and build trust. When people stop talking to each other about the things which might be bothering them, the issues can just become bigger and more difficult to resolve.

3. Encourage each other to have hobbies, friends and interests outside of the relationship. This will enable you both to have fuller lives and help you both to enjoy my next point more.

4. Spend quality time together to help strengthen the bond and build intimacy. It is all too easy to allow daily life to over-burden us and take the fun out of a relationship. Make time for a regular ‘date-night’ if you can, where you just make time for each other, remembering all the reasons you got together in the first place.

5. Treat each other with respect and dignity. Avoid criticism, blame and insults, especially if something outside the relationship is affecting you, don’t blame your partner.

6. Take care of your own physical, mental and emotional well-being. A healthy individual contributes to a healthy relationship.

Anyone can struggle with their mental well-being from time to time. However, if you feel you are in danger of harming yourself or others then please contact your GP, go to A&E, call the Samaritans on 116 123 or text SHOUT to 85258