my space tracker

Hope Forward: Surviving and Thriving through Emotional Pain: The Dangerous "Yes But You..." Disease

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

The Dangerous "Yes But You..." Disease


Consider this: Jane and Jon have been married for three years. They generally enjoy each other's company and companionship and get along well. They are hard working, saving for a house, and maybe kids one day. She likes to take day trips to see interesting things on the weekends. He prefers to chill around the house. Maybe mow the lawn and play some ball with the guys. They work it out. Overall, things are fine. But its just that something subtle is brewing. Its sort of like a small hum. Their sex life is pretty good still. It has slowed down a little bit over the last year or so, but no worries, really.

Jon is a mellow guy. He doesn't talk too much, a sharp contrast to Jane's pretty constant chatter. In fact, sometimes, its not chatter, its more of a running commentary on her work, her family, her friends, her die hard belief in protecting animals. Jon actually likes Jane's banter most of the time. He found her interesting at first, and since he does not have a lot to say, he does not mind it that she fills the silence. And Jane does not seem to mind that Jon is a guy of few words, and fewer still, analyses of life and relationships.

Fast forward six years, one kid and one on the way. A slower than slow sex life now and that small hum has turned into an annoying buzz. Neither can put their finger on what it is, but they both hear it. Jane wonders what it is that wrong. She wants Jon to say more, talk more, emote more. She wants an emotional connection. Jon still listens to Jane's banter, but more and more he feels like he cannot say anything real to her because 1) her first response is usually negative and 2) she will argue him under the table if she does not like what he says.

Jon, who never really was big on conversation, feels both defeated and frightened. He loves Jane, and he enjoys her. And he would actually talk more to her about his own feelings and ideas if he felt safer, if he did not think she would immediately disagree, or present the opposite side of the issue. Or worse, yet, leave him. He somehow knows he fears this, deep down. And he is afraid to hurt her. He loves her. And he is grateful to her for being such a good mother and bearing his children.

So one day, when Jane tells Jon that she is not happy in the marriage and wishes Jon would open up more (a phrase that ranks high on a man's most annoying statements list), Jon, with great struggle, decides that he is going to brave it and tell Jane a truth about herself.

"Jane," he begins, "I find it hard to open up to you because you always seem to argue with what I say, or your first response is negative...." (Jon is looking at her tentatively and with hope and fear, and, surprisingly to him, eyes full of tears and an ache in his throat)...and here is what comes next:
Scenario 1: Jane (feeling resentful and angry, hurt and defensive, automatically sprays like a skunk, "Yes, but you never really listen to me, you have no idea what I need or want and you don't understand or have anything real to say. You would rather watch TV than listen to me, you never initiate anything except sex, and I hate how you do that. "

Okay....so you can imagine where this is going. And just to let the therapist in me mention that yes, and okay, we could, unpack here, all the reasons why Jane is Jane and Jon is Jon, and all their ideas about marriage, character and communication, but that's a therapy session or book, not a blog post, so I will leave it for now....

Scenario 2: Jon says the same thing...and Jane says: nothing. for a whole minute. She still feels hurt and angry and defensive, but she stays quiet. And then she says: Thank you for telling me. That couldn't have been easy. I did not know I come across this way to you.

And then Jon says. "I don't want us to grow apart. I like us. I love you."

Its not always so simple...but you get the drift. The Yes But You disease can be a relationship killer. It kills friendships, marriages, business partnerships. The good news is, its highly curable. With a bit of work and an open mind.

People offer suffer an enormous amount of emotional pain when trying to be understood by someone who has hurt them. Or trying to work out a difficult relationship. Its hard to own up to your own stuff, or to learn about how your partner experiences you, especially when you are pretty clear about what they do wrong. And especially when you are hurting, or have a tendency to be very hard on yourself, and not allow for human mistakes without going into self pity and despair (next post on this).

But when someone is brave enough to tell you what is in the way of the relationship being successful, you have to be brave enough to listen. You may not agree, but its always a good idea to try to hear what they are telling you before you spray. It may redirect you future, and leave you so much better off than you could ever imagine.

8 comments:

Brandice said...

Great post! This really resonated with me and as a therapist, I can attest to the fact that it really can be a relationship killer.

Melissa Groman, LCSW said...

Thanks Brandice. Its a human, but hard habbit to break...but worth the effort...
Melissa

Ally said...

This is a good one to remember in so many contexts. Thanks!

Melissa Groman, LCSW said...

Thanks Ally, Glad you stopped by!

Melissa

Nikki (Sarah) said...

really right on what you said here. Hard to hear the truth sometimes and hard to say the truth too.

Melissa Groman, LCSW said...

Sarah, yes, but usually worth it...btw, I love your blogs...esp. liked Awesome Gd post...
Melissa

Shen said...

This was exactly what I needed to read today. Thank you.

I am (finally) at the stage in my marriage where I am no longer willing to take the silence, the distance, and the resentment building inside me. I have been married 25 years, so I guess I am a bit behind schedule....

My therapist has recommended a DVD series by John and Julie Gottman. I brought it up to my husband yesterday - boy was that a hard conversation - and he grudgingly agreed to try it with me.

I want to try to remember what you said here - about listening without judgement. That is not something I was very good at yesterday. There is so much anxiety, anger, sadness just below the surface that it sometimes hard to keep it contained.

Melissa Groman, LCSW said...

Hi Shen,

Yes, of course all those difficult feelings make it very difficult to listen and understand, but its usually worth the effort. Hopefully the understanding will come back around and you will be understood as well.
Thanks for posting!

Melissa