Love-Hate Relationship: What It Is, the Big Signs, Types & How to Overcome It

There are many different types of relationships in the world, but what about a love-hate relationship? Why does it happen, and can it work out?

A love-hate relationship is wild, thrilling, and full of passion. But on the flip side, it’s also stressful and heart-wrenching. For every exhilarating rush of love, there are several moments of rage and anger.

If you’re in a simple and happy romance, the thought of throwing each other on tables and walls and indulging in carpet-burn-inducing rough sex after an angry fight could seem really exciting.

Heck, watching someone else’s love-hate affair could also make your perfectly happy romance feel rather mundane and boring! [Read: How to let go of someone you love by hating them]

But you need to know this – as good as they may appear, love-hate relationships aren’t like the movies.

In real life, the idea of a love-hate relationship could seem fascinating to many. But experiencing or living through a love-hate romance will do nothing but sap the energy out of you.

It’ll also drastically impact all other aspects of your life, including your productivity, your happiness, and your sanity. [Read: The easiest ways to be a happy couple that’s envied by all couples]

What is a love-hate relatonship?

Disagreements and ego clashes exist in almost all relationships. To a certain extent, these fights can help couples understand each other better. [Read: How to fight fair and have a happier romance]

Conversely, a love-hate relationship thrives on serious conflicts and incompatible personalities. As cheerful and accommodating as both of you may be as individuals, a love-hate relationship will bring out the worst in you and your lover.

A love-hate relationship is the kind of relationship where there’s more anger and frustration in the romance than love and happiness. [Read: The 23 types of relationships you could fall into]

If you’re living through a love-hate relationship, it doesn’t make you a bad person. Your partner and you could seriously love each other. Nevertheless, both of you may find yourselves bringing out the worst in each other all the time.

The signs of a love-hate relationship are easy to see. Your partner may annoy you all the time, but after cooling off, you realize that you actually do love this person.

While love-hate relationships are almost always never planned, there are a few guys and girls who intentionally get into love-hate relationships because they love drama in their lives.

These are the lovers who find their own lives rather boring and thrive on confusion – it makes them seem more exciting and dramatic! [Read: 16 subtle signs you’re an attention whore who wants more drama!]

The two kinds of love-hate relationships

There are two kinds of love-hate relationships that you may experience in your life. Truth be told, neither one of them will do you any good.

1. Love the relationship, hate the lover

You like the idea of being in love, but you don’t love the person you’re dating or married to. You’re probably staying in the relationship only because you’re too afraid you won’t find someone to love you if you break up.

Or worse, you’re scared you can’t handle the trauma if your partner dates someone else immediately after breaking up with you. [Read: 18 critical signs you’re already in a very unhealthy relationship!]

2. Love the lover, hate the relationship

You’re completely smitten by your lover, and you just can’t imagine your life without them.

But yet, every time both of you get together, you realize that you share nothing in common. Your time is full of conflicts and disagreements, and you just can’t stand each other. [Read: If you love someone, should you let them go?]

The biggest reasons why love-hate relationships happen

Any of us could fall into a love-hate relationship, however nice we may be. Even if you aren’t really the type who gets angry or yells, it may only be a matter of time before you start retaliating.

The factors that turn a perfect romance into a love-hate relationship are easy to see. Thankfully, they’re easy to correct too.

If you truly care about your relationship and want your love life to get better, communicate about the reasons that cause love-hate relationships. Then, change yourselves before both of you have to part ways bitterly. [Read: 25 must-follow relationship rules for a happy love life]

Use these 12 causes of love-hate relationships to find out where both of you lock horns frequently, and try to work on fixing it.

1. Incompatible personalities

Both of you are very different from each other in your approach towards life and your expectations from it. This causes confusion and clashes on how to handle situations and how you see the world around you. [Read: 50 relationship questions to test your compatibility instantly!]

2. Ego clashes

Big egos can single-handedly destroy even the happiest of relationships within a few months. Never let egos overwhelm your relationship, or you’ll be setting the relationship up for doom even before it has a chance to bloom. [Read: The 20 biggest reasons for divorce that most couples overlook]

3. Strong personalities

If both of you have strong personalities and always want things your own way, and hate giving in to someone else’s wishes, an argument may be waiting just around the corner.

4. Jealousy and insecurities

If one or both of you are sensitive to harsh words or easily incensed by flirty behavior, it may lead to jealousy and insecurity creeping into the relationship. This could turn perfect love into bitter hatred. [Read: The right way to deal with jealousy in love]

5. Wandering eyes

This is something most girls have a hard time dealing with. Do you hate it when your man constantly stares at other women when you’re around?

Perhaps your man’s ogling eyes could be the catalyst behind your love-hate relationship. [Read: Sneaky tips to fix your man’s ogling eyes]

6. Different expectations

Do you and your partner have different expectations from each other? Are both of you having a hard time trying to be the other person’s perfect partner?

7. Unvoiced frustrations

Anger doesn’t usually grow out of nowhere, nor does it erupt all of a sudden. Sometimes, it takes several years of suppressed frustration and anger to create a love-hate relationship. [Read: The power of words and how it can damage your relationship forever]

8. An unwillingness to change

You may realize that your partner doesn’t like something you do, but yet, you make no effort to change. It could also be the other way around.

9. Controlling lovers

Some partners are inherently controlling. If you don’t allow your partner to control you, they may argue with you constantly just to make you give in. [Read: 16 ways to handle controlling behavior in a relationship]

10. Cheating partners

If you’re cheating on your lover, or if your lover thinks you’re cheating on them, both of you will instantly fall into the love-hate relationship pattern. This is more than wandering eyes, this is acting upon impulses and turning your relationship toxic.

11. Lack of communication

Do you actually communicate with each other? If one of you has a hard time talking about feelings, it’s only a matter of time before the other partner starts to feel insecure. This could easily lead to emotional outbursts.

12. Immaturity

Immaturity is one of the biggest reasons behind love-hate relationships. Both partners know what the relationship needs, but they’re too immature and short-sighted to even see the bigger picture or work towards it. Instead of trying to understand each other, they bicker like little children. [Read: The best way to deal with complications in a relationship]

The cycle of a love-hate romance

A love-hate romance is never good for any couple. Then again, the constant waves of highs and lows could turn into an addiction. Before either of you know it, one or both of you may start to crave the toxic drama and create it – often just to keep the relationship interesting!

The low of breaking up …

In a love-hate relationship, the fights are painful and tearful. Both of you may scream, throw things and slam doors.

Each time both of you fight, it’ll affect your productivity in other aspects of your life too. But all said and done, both of you may argue, yet know that it’s only a matter of time before you jump back into each other’s arms. [Read: 15 types of toxic relationships you could be experiencing right now!]

… followed by the high of making up

A love-hate relationship is full of make-ups and break-ups. Each time both of you take some time off from each other after a fight, the relationship will feel more passionate and powerful when you reunite.

You’ll feel more in love with each other. And the best part of making up? Well, make-up sex after a big fight always feels like the best sex ever! [Read: Hot and horny tips to have more make up sex!]

The truth? Love-hate relationships aren’t stable, and they aren’t good

The idea of love-hate romance may sound exciting. But this kind of relationship can never help you grow as a couple. It stops you from opening up to each other and revealing your true selves, flaws and all.

Even if there’s a lot of love in the air, the constant arguments will always allow insecurities about the future to seep in.

A love-hate marriage or relationship is full of doubts, uncertainty, and raging anger. Even if both of you love each other a lot, the constant doubts about compatibility will force one or both of you to stray into healthier, although quieter relationships that are more peaceful and relaxing.

Right now, you probably can’t even imagine falling in love with anyone else. But, no matter how long you stay in a love-hate relationship, your mind will constantly wander and look for a more stable relationship – whether you like it or not! [Read: How to fall out of love when you see no future together]

Why do you love them?

Is your relationship meant to be? Are you truly happy in your relationship, or are you just bending over backwards for someone who isn’t willing to do the same for you? This is something you seriously need to think about. Why do you stay in a relationship that’s full of hurdles and pain?

You need to sit down and ask yourself why you love someone who only hurts you. Why are you in a relationship with someone who only brings out your worst side all the time?

Perhaps, there is something that draws both of you to each other, and holds you together through all those arguments. [Read: Do opposites really attract or do they just push each other away?!]

Why do you hate them?

Are the reasons something that you can’t work around? Sometimes, especially when egos lock horns, it’s easy to raise a storm over the most trivial of reasons.

If you find yourselves fighting all the time, try to get to the bottom of it. It’s obvious that you can’t come to an agreement on a few issues, but why is that? Are those issues more important than your happiness as a couple? [Read: 15 reasons why you may be getting bored with your relationship]

Getting over the love-hate phase

It’s easy to get over the love-hate phase in a relationship if both of you make the effort to change for each other. All it takes is patience, and the will to compromise without letting egos lock horns. But for many couples in love-hate relationships, that’s impossible to do.

Learn to communicate with each other instead of yelling at each other. If something hurts you, talk to your partner about it instead of assuming your partner’s doing it intentionally just to hurt you. And if your partner ever does get angry, don’t retaliate in anger. [Read: How to fix every single trust issue in your relationship]

After all, anger, in many ways, is a defense mechanism. It’s the way we react when we feel like we’re cornered and helpless, and we’re too egotistical to accept our faults.

Give your angry partner some time alone to reflect on what you have to say, and when their ego diminishes after a while, they’ll be open to communicating with you.

One of the most important things you need to keep in mind while trying to break through the love-hate barrier is to lose your ego.

Apologize often, and be open to compromise. When you learn to laugh together about the petty fights, that’s the sign that love is on the verge of triumphing over all the hate that’s filling your romance. [Read: The 10 big signs of every perfectly happy relationship]

Should you stay in a love-hate relationship?

The answer is something only you can figure out. Some of us can be overly dramatic and claim to enjoy love-hate relationships, because it sounds fashionable and more exciting than being in a calm and stable romance.

But on the other hand, there are serious lovers who are constantly cheated on, emotionally abused, threatened and even physically abused by their partner.

And yet, the madness of love-hate romance could muddle their judgment and arm-twist them into staying in the same bad relationship. It could force them to endure a bitter and hard life when there are so many better opportunities out there. [Read: 15 subtle signs of a controlling boyfriend]

Are you in an unhealthy love-hate relationship? Here’s an easy way to find out what you really want, and whether you truly want to stay in this kind of destructive romance.

Write a list of the pros and cons of your own love story. Work out whether the pros are worth it, or the cons are overwhelming. Be honest with yourself and ask whether, truthfully, you deserve better.

[Read: 7 secret signs of a relationship that’s starting to go bad]

Remember this – love-hate relationships may be exciting and passionate, but they’re almost always destructive in the long run. Learn to fix it soon, or walk out before it’s too late!