Emotional intimacy: subthemes and direct quotations
| Emotional intimacy | |
| 2.1 Pressure to perform | ‘It’s like, … with the tiredness side and with the chest side, … you sort of do have to think about it a lot more and … feel under pressure yourself that you need to perform’ (ID6/M/45) |
| 2.2 Self preservation | ‘Honestly, I’ve even said, “(male name), if you want to go out, … and find yourself someone just for… one night and just enjoy yourself I will give you the permission to”, because I feel really guilty’ (ID10/F/46) |
| 2.3 A problem shared | ‘Like a massive weight was lifted for me, so yeah! Because I was trying to hide things from her and make excuses about going to bed early and so on and I didn’t have to. She fully understood then, and she was by my side …and its something we’ve grown to live with together’ (ID1/M/34) |