Zugzwang in Love: Why the Iran War, Famine Risk, and Short Attention Spans Are Quietly Stressing Your Relationship (opens in new tab)

There is a particular kind of tension that does not begin in the relationship but ends there. It arrives quietly. It does not knock. It hums in the background while you’re making coffee, while your partner asks a simple question, while you answer with just a trace more irritation than the moment deserves. You assume it belongs to the two of you. Often, it doesn’t. In my work, I’ve begun to notice something that feels less like a metaphor and more like a diagnosis: Couples are absorbing the st...