Recent news headlines have been flooded with tragic incidents of young couples in live-in relationships turning to violence. This rising trend reflects the societal challenges faced by Gen-Z when it comes to love and relationships.
The gen-z youth is taking its love interest quite seriously and getting into “live-in relationships” which in itself is an issue that the society in India hasn’t completely accepted till this day. The equation of the relationship usually gets escalated on social media like instagram chat or whatsapp and ends up in violent fights in a live-in relationship in some PG or apartment. And then these savage fights among gen-z couples end up in bloodshed.
The Angst of Gen-Z Love
We have recently seen so many breaking news about couples ending it all with bloody violence in live-in set-ups. It’s heartbreaking to see such bright future of our nation to take big vicious steps. There’s fear among youth of being single and pressure to be in a relationship to appear “acceptable” in the society. Adolescents and young adults often struggle with emotional regulation as their mind is still evolving especially the prefrontal cortex which develops till the mid 20’s, and it governs impulsiveness and decision making skills. The youth who witness unhealthy relationships at their home may construct similar patterns in their own romantic relationships. The immature youth often idealise unmet expectations in their relationships, putting pressure on themselves and their partners.
In many cases the youth is seen to dwell into substance abuse in order to cope with the pressures of being in a relationship, which adds to fights and disturbance. Very often friends encourage people to stay in unhealthy relationships to maintain social image. In many conservative cultures as in India the youth may feel compelled to stay in a toxic relationship to avoid judgment by the community. Immaturity can make it very difficult to navigate conflicts making it easier for the youth to take impulsive actions involving very violent reactions. Partners may use social media to control each other by asking passwords or tracking locations. One partner may excessively rely on the other showing co-dependency often not giving any space to their partner neglecting their independence and growth. On top of that the verbal abuse and shaming destroys morale and self-esteem. Very often possessiveness might be mistaken for love and it may create a very unhealthy dynamic. Conflicts would mostly rise up than fall fostering a pattern of argument and misunderstandings.
How To Change This Dynamic
Firstly live-in relationships should be completely accepted by the Indian society without much hesitation and the stigma associated with live-in has to be removed if we wish to help out gen-z stuck there. Schools and colleges must teach emotional intelligence and conflict resolution skills as their own students could be struggling in their relationships and that could be harming their productivity. It should be normalised to seek help for relationship issues, it’s completely okay to visit a psychologist or a psychiatrist to seek quality help and feel calm. Couples therapy can greatly resolve most of the struggles that the duo could be facing.
Conclusion
Unhealthy relationships among the youth are a result of poor upbringing, toxic communication, immaturity and unrealistic expectations. To address these we need education on emotional intelligence, empowerment programmes , involvement of families and strength to end toxic relationships.
Removing the stigma attached to being in love or being in a live-in has to be taken out. With such improvements we can surely see a world where our youth do not resort to aggression or violence and instead build happy and healthy relationships.
