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Post by astinatlas on Apr 12, 2023 1:06:58 GMT
So I’m Anxious and my partner is disorganized/fearful avoidant. We live together and I’m currently staying at home finishing up our house and he goes to work a few days a week part time. I struggle with wanting to cling to him when he’s home since I tend to want to spend his time off with him as much as possible. Lately he’s been chatting with other people online pretty often and making friends with this one guy. He messages his often throughout the day. I get really bothered when he’s messaging him while I’m trying to spend time with him or talk about things. It feels like he’s been leaning into this person and letting them know more about how they are feeling then me, their long term partner. I understand we are both tired and stressed from our life situation and we see each other all the time, but it feels like he is burnt out from me and doesn’t want to communicate with me anymore like we used to. He used to tell me a lot more about what he’s doing and what he’s thinking and it triggers me so much to see the distance. I know I just have to give him his space and let him come to me and be more comfortable once he’s less stressed opening up, but I worry I am not keeping a secure/healthy relationship. I don’t know how to go about this situation or how secure couples communicate when living together. Any insight or tips are highly appreciated.
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Post by tnr9 on Apr 12, 2023 1:24:08 GMT
So I’m Anxious and my partner is disorganized/fearful avoidant. We live together and I’m currently staying at home finishing up our house and he goes to work a few days a week part time. I struggle with wanting to cling to him when he’s home since I tend to want to spend his time off with him as much as possible. Lately he’s been chatting with other people online pretty often and making friends with this one guy. He messages his often throughout the day. I get really bothered when he’s messaging him while I’m trying to spend time with him or talk about things. It feels like he’s been leaning into this person and letting them know more about how they are feeling then me, their long term partner. I understand we are both tired and stressed from our life situation and we see each other all the time, but it feels like he is burnt out from me and doesn’t want to communicate with me anymore like we used to. He used to tell me a lot more about what he’s doing and what he’s thinking and it triggers me so much to see the distance. I know I just have to give him his space and let him come to me and be more comfortable once he’s less stressed opening up, but I worry I am not keeping a secure/healthy relationship. I don’t know how to go about this situation or how secure couples communicate when living together. Any insight or tips are highly appreciated. Hi and welcome. I am a fearful avoidant who tends to lean anxious in relationships…meaning that I tend to choose partners who are more avoidant leaning then I am. As I was reading your post, I could see both sides of this….on his side, he probably is drained from work and wants to chill and this friend he is talking to might “feel” less demanding. On the other side, his absence while he is working plus his distraction while he is home “feels” like he is pulling away to you. The issue with anxious/avoidant relationship pairings is that they can start off seeming fantastic….because neither person really knows the other one and each person’s nervous systems hasn’t really kicked in. Over time however, your nervous system starts warning you that he is less available and you end up doing 2 things…looking for actual signs that he is pulling away and 2. Feeling a need to move closer to avoid feeling abandoned. Meanwhile….his nervous system starts warning him that you are too available/clingy and he ends up doing two things….1. Looking for actually signs that you are being more clingy and 2. Feeling a need to pull away in order to avoid feeling smothered. The only real solution is for each of you to work on your own insecurities….you need to work through your childhood wounding that led you to fear being abandoned, while he needs to work through his childhood wounding that led his to fear being smothered. This is often a very emotional process and it is recommended to work with a therapist who is familiar with attachment theory. The biggest issue you may face is while you might be open to addressing your insecurities, he may see no issue on his part. It is not unusual for one partner to want to address the issues and the other one to not. It will be very important for you to choose to work on yourself regardless of whether he chooses to work on himself. It also might mean that he may grow more distant because therapy can initially cause you to feel even more needy/clingy….this is just something to consider. Do you have friends to spend time with and hobbies you enjoy outside of the relationship? That might help reduce your fear of being abandoned because you will have other avenues to get your needs fulfilled. Even in the best relationships, both people have to have a healthy amount of individual time..,.friends, hobbies etc that each does individually.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 12, 2023 4:29:17 GMT
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