Here are 5 subtle signs of fake happiness in a relationship

Up to 51% of millennials play up their relationship happiness. They are never as happy in love as they make themselves appear.

According to a survey of over 2,000 people by relationship charity Relate, while 51% of millennials exaggerate their happiness levels in a relationship, the practice is not limited to just millennials. 39% of the general population do the same.

It goes to show just what people would do to ‘look’ happy rather than actually being really happy.

So, what are the signs of fake happiness in a relationship?

1. Resentment

You like to project a happy front; a contented, satisfied façade. But deep down you know that there is a resentment towards your partner that you just can’t shake. It could be because of something they did, something they won’t stop doing or for some other reason.

Whatever the case, where one partner has a deep-seated resentment that they always try to mask so as not to appear angry or so as not to unsettle the relationship with difficult questions, any declaration of happiness in such relationship has to be fake until those issues are addressed and those hidden, negative feelings quelled.

2. You just go with whatever your partner says

If a partner who was once big on settling issues and getting the relationship on track now starts agreeing with everything the other says, that's not a good sign.

They’ve likely stopped expressing their needs and the things that bother them because they've checked out. When passion for the relationship is lost, the will to fight tends to go with it.

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3. You’re only in it to please people

You don’t want difficult questions about why your relationship ended; you don’t want your folks asking what happened, so you keep on with the relationship when you really just want to pack it up and move on.

That’s what you want deep down, but you can’t bring yourself to do it because of what people will say.

4. You’re making the relationship about time

If you are focused on time, rather than the happiness quotient of a relationship, you are doing it wrongly.

You can’t claim to be happy in a relationship when all you can lay claim to in it is the fact that you and your partner have been together for six years. If that’s all you’ve got to cheer in the relationship, you should probably start asking yourself questions.

5. Nothing excites you anymore

If you're now on auto-pilot in the relationship, those smiles are surely not real. No excitement, no thrills, nothing to look forward to, no breathtaking stuff happening anymore... not the surprise date nights, not the backblowing sex, nothing.

Are you sure you're happy with that, like really happy?