Can a cohabitating couple stay together if they decide to live separately?
My partner and I have been together 3 years. We moved in together about a year and a half ago.
I was in Nursing school full time and he works 40+ hours a week. Deciding to cohabitate made the most sense for our relationship financially and for quality spent together. We genuinely enjoyed being around one another and were together almost all the time anyway.
My stress level was high (I also have diagnosed MDD and GAD) and it increased as I neared graduation, and I ultimately failed out of my last semester.
Fast forward to now….I will be returning to school soon and my partner has said that he would rather I not attend school at all, or that we need to live separately again due to the fact that I don’t handle my stress and anxiety well which causes him to “feel as if he is going to break”
He wants to continue our relationship- but I don’t see how or why if he can’t handle being in the same
space with me. I love him dearly, he’s my best friend- but my feelings are very hurt.
We are in the midst of moving into two separate apartments about 20 minutes from one another.
We have physically been separated for 48 hours and we are both struggling emotionally with it, although this is what he said he wanted.
So, what are your thoughts? Is it possible to survive this?