 Your partner's been acting a little suspicious for the past few months. They've been staying out later than usual and suddenly became super secretive about messages on their phone. One day you see their phone on the counter and realize it's unlocked. Do you snoop through their texts or resist the urge and walk away? Trust is foundational for building fulfilling healthy connections. A lack of trust might lead to anxiety or problems in your relationship. If you have trust issues, this video will give you insight into what may have caused them and tips on overcoming them so that you feel more at ease. Let's jump into it. The double bind. What was your childhood like? This is one of the most important questions to ponder if you're trying to get to the root of your trust issues. If you experienced the double bind dynamic growing up, this could be why you have trouble trusting others as an adult. Social scientist Gregory Bateson is a researcher who first identified the double bind problem. According to an article published in Psycholive, the double bind happens when you get mixed messages from someone. A person might say or do something in one moment and then completely contradicted in the next. This can cause distress and confusion for the person receiving these contradicting messages, especially if they're a child. For example, imagine a young child's father saying, I love you to their son, but then his dad suddenly seems angry, has an outburst for seemingly no reason and walks away from him. This unpredictable behavior leaves his son confused. While dad gave him a message of love, at the same time he acted hostile and uncaring. The child might not know how to respond to make their dad happy. Through his research, Bateson found that double binds like this can cause children to develop a sense of distrust because they learned that they can't trust the conflicting messages their parents give them. If you experienced hurtful situations like this as a child, no, it's not your fault. You can heal from it and learn to trust again. Charlie Huntington, a researcher at the University of Denver, shares that one way to overcome trust issues is to pay more attention to situations where people are trustworthy. When you have trust issues, you tend to focus on the negative experiences you've had and overlook cases where people show that they can be trusted. This can lead to a cycle of distrust. Having gratitude for trustworthy people as you go about your day can help you build your sense of trust back up again. If a friend follows through on a promise or your family member consistently picks you up at the time they said they would be there, stop for a moment and appreciate their actions. Acknowledge that their actions are trustworthy. If you practice this strategy for long enough, you might find that you are able to trust a little easier. If you find this video relatable and helpful, please give the video a thumbs up and subscribe to the channel. Now, moving on to the next point. Trust is mutable. If you've ever been betrayed by a friend or cheated on by a partner, you know that it can feel nearly impossible to trust again. While your childhood experiences have a powerful impact on your sense of trust as an adult, your experiences later in life also have an effect. A study published in the Journal of Couple and Relationship Therapy found that broken trust is one of the primary reasons participants self-sabotaged in their romantic relationships. Many participants expressed that they were so afraid to get hurt again that they wouldn't allow themselves to be vulnerable with other partners. This led to difficulty maintaining relationships. Can you relate? Huntington points out that there is a bright side to this. Our sense of trust is not set in stone. It can change over time. Depending on your experience, if you've been through a heartbreak that caused you to develop trust issues, you can take steps to change it. Licensed clinical social worker Michelle Risser suggests that in order to overcome trust issues, you can practice trusting in low-risk situations that you feel safe in. This could be something as simple as asking someone to run an errand for you and seeing if you can trust them to be reliable. If you build up trust in safe ways like this, you might find that after a while, you learn to trust again, little by little. We hope this video helped you reflect on why you might have trouble trusting and what you can do to overcome trust issues. There are many different reasons why someone develops trust issues that may not have been mentioned in this video. So we wanna hear from you Psych2Goers. Do you have trust issues? Where do you think they stemmed from? For those of you who have overcome trust issues, how did you do it? Share your stories in the comments below. Remember to be kind and patient with yourself. Rebuilding trust takes time and everyone heals at their own pace. Thanks for watching and have a wonderful day. Are you looking for a cuddly companion that brings positivity and mental wellness to your daily life? Get your very own Sai. The lovable plushie is here to brighten your days. It embodies the spirit of Psych2Go and it serves as a reminder to prioritize your mental well-being. Its green leaf symbolizes growth, renewal, and the importance of self-care, whether it's for yourself or as a thoughtful gift for a loved one. Sai is ready to be your snugly friend through all of life's ups and downs. Buy your Sai plushie today. Link is listed in the description box.