I have been with my girlfriend for over 4 years now. She was my first serious relationship so I've had a lot to learn in the time we've been together. We've been long distance for the entire relationship, but it was worth it as we fit together really well. We have the same norms and values, a lot of our interests align, we both enjoy spending a lot of time with a significant other, etc. We've barely had any issues in our relationship, but now there's one thing that has been happening since the beginning of the relationship that's really starting to bother me.

She is incredibly pessimistic, causing her to complain daily to me about various aspects of her life. The list includes but is not limited to: her toxic family, the corrupt country she lives in, the inhabitants of said country, the education system, her employer, her colleagues, all of her adult responsibilities, her appearance, her lack of motivation to do anything to improve her appearance, money related issues, the distance between us, her small social circle, and many more.

Now I fully understand why she is unhappy with most of the things she complains about. Sadly I do have to agree she has an unfortunate position in life, so I do sympathise with her will usually offer emotional support as well as solutions if I have any. However, she has been complaining about the same issues daily for the past 4 years and refuses to do anything about the issues that she can act upon. When I offer solutions she will agree that they're good ideas, but ends up not doing anything with them. She simply doesn't have the motivation for a lot of things. She has no other outlet for these frustrations and so they all fall on me.

I have softly brought up to her that I think she complains too much on multiple occasions in the past, at which point she has always wholeheartedly agreed that she does complain a whole lot, but then ends up shutting the conversation down by jokingly saying I just need to "shut up and let her complain". I've mentioned that I'm running out of things to reply to her frustrations, to which she responded that I don't have to have much to say, I just need to let her talk. However the immediate first time after that conversation that she complained about something she ended up getting angry at me for not saying much in return.

I feel bad for not being able to help her, as I do understand her frustrations, and so I am also not sure if I am the issue here. I don't want her to just keep everything inside and end up exploding at some point either. I'm genuinely running out of ideas on how to approach this subject, but its been causing me to slowly rack up resentment and lose interest. I'm scared that if this keeps going the relationship is doomed. Any advice is appreciated!

TLDR; my girlfriend is really negative and complains about the same long list of problems daily. She has refused my attempts to get her to complain less. I dont know how to fix this situation.


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