I don’t normally take advice from a bathroom stall, but the Irrelationship Group strategically stuck its sticker in my field of view.
Out of curiosity, I visited the website (irrelationship.com), which lead me to a platform full of articles revolving around the nature of relationships. The company was founded by Mark B. Borg, Jr., Grant H. Brenner and Daniel Berry, a New York City based mental health team. They are also the authors of the book, “Irrelationship: How We Use Dysfuncional Relationships to Hide from Intimacy.”
To learn more about the company, I visited the “About” section on its Facebook page, which begged the following question: “Relationships proving to be a challenge?”
“Yes,” I replied mentally.
Lately, it seems as if I’ve become the pseudo therapist for many of my friends. I’ve spent countless hours on the phone, regurgitating cliques to people who have either A) recently come out of a tumultuous relationship or B) come to terms with the possibility that they may be forever alone.
It seems to be a generational thing, too. While Irrelationship delves into all sorts of relationships between people, it’s especially relevant for urban millennials between the ages of 20 and 30 who are terrified of the idea of serial monogamy.
New York City is apparently full of them.
“There are just so many options,” said one friend who shall remain nameless.
Interestingly enough, the Irrelationship group was formed to help people achieve optimal relationships, not just in world of romance, but across all domains — friendships, work, etc. To take on this lofty goal, the team utilizes multiple platforms in order to help others understand the “dysfunctional patterns of relating with one another.”
The term irrelationship actually refers to the psychological defense system that is created by people in order to deal with emotional investment that comes along with caring about someone.
As a native New Yorker, I’ve been very aware of irrelationship for some time now. My sister and I jokingly call it a “condition.”
But now that there’s actually a word for it, I know it must be legit.
Hopefully, Borg, Brenner and Berry can offer us all some dating advice before we actually end up forever alone.
