The strength of some marriages in Thunder Bay are being tested under COVID-19, and the pressure is getting to some.
Deborah Tychynski-Migay is with Thunder Bay councelling, and tells us she figures when people planned to spend their lives together, it wasn’t 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
“Peoples’ routines are gone, many people are at home with nobody else to talk to but each other, and their kids to take care of who are more restless because they don’t have their school and other activities. There’s also financial stress for people,” says the councellor.
However, with the rise of calls they’ve received in couples seeking help, spending more time together has helped others.
“Some couples have more time to focus each other and their relationship. Some people are finding ways to play together, working on projects, and finding out they can be more of a team together. So I think it can go in either direction, depending on the couple,” says Tychynski-Migay.
She also noted out of all the concerns she’s encountered, the one that stands out the most is where there’s a control or violence issue.
“I think that is the place where it is most difficult for couples. For people who are on the receiving end of violence, and if people find themselves in that kind of place, it’s a very different thing, it’s not about strengthening the relationship, it’s about keeping yourself safe,” says the councellor.
Thunder Bay councelling has an Assaulted Women’s Helpline, at 1-866-863-7868.
She also maintains the key for couples to get through spending so much time together during COVID-19 is something that was around before the pandemic… communication. What is said, and how it’s said, are very important.
