Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 31, 2018 14:37:48 GMT
This thread is for those with an Avoidant attachment style to explore the red flags and early warning signs that, in hindsight, were indications that a relationship was toxic and detrimental.
Also, we can describe what the Dealbreakers are for us in a romantic relationship.
As we work toward secure, it’s important to recognize unhealthy patterns and dynamics that we may have habitually and unconsciously engaged with in the past.
These things can now be signals to introspecti and take good care of ourselves, to become conscious and develop new thoughts and courses of action in order to transform negative patterns into opportunities for growth.
Here is a good place to talk about boundaries we recognize that we need to have and uphold to be healthy and to respect the health of our partners as well.
My thanks in advance to Avoidants who share here, and to those who support our growth by standing back and allowing us to search this topic out for our own work toward becoming secure in our relationships.
This is a potentially triggering topic for everyone, so please remember to be thoughtful and remember that this dialog may be painful, thought provoking, and raw for writers and readers alike. The purpose is to grow.
Many thanks, from the bottom of my heart.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 31, 2018 16:53:11 GMT
For me, an epiphany is getting to know a covert NPD who came across as AP at first. There are so many overlapping relationship symptoms. So it could be 2 sides of the same Avoidant/NPD, AP/NPD (covert) dynamic. I'm looking forward to finally meet a real AP man one day. I might be able to get into a relationship with an AP, who knows. I think as we have had skewed relationships in our childhood and in our lives, we are extra vigilant and the red flags that speak to us might be those that evoke our past, and can be confusing. This, at least, is what I find true in my case.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 31, 2018 17:28:52 GMT
For me, an epiphany is getting to know a covert NPD who came across as AP at first. There are so many overlapping relationship symptoms. So it could be 2 sides of the same Avoidant/NPD, AP/NPD (covert) dynamic. I'm looking forward to finally meet a real AP man one day. I might be able to get into a relationship with an AP, who knows. I think as we have had skewed relationships in our childhood and in our lives, we are extra vigilant and the red flags that speak to us might be those that evoke our past, and can be confusing. This, at least, is what I find true in my case. I agree, and at one time i was very confused by what might be considered red flags, but as i have become more secure and healthier in relationships i have some real clarity on behaviors that indicate a lack of respect or healthy boundaries. Each relationship has helped me to evolve that awareness. So i definitely want to explore that and organize my thoughts around it. My last seriously ToXiC relationship was with a man who acted AP but also escalated that to dangerous levels with comorbid BPD that became more identifiable over time. I thought that i could just reassure him out of it. He could have killed me with his violence once it escalated there. But, the early warning signs were similar to AP dysfunctional relating, in terms of his insistence that i take control of his emotional well being and provide for him what he could not provide for himself, let alone me. There is a lot there to write about. I have also been involved with avoidants, (most recently, i do not gravitate toward AP styles ) whose behavior i also registered but overlooked because of empathy or a belief that they would like to evolve. but many lacked awareness to even begin and i have been in recovery a long time. So, while we all have our own behaviors to identify to become healthier, i want to include behaviors that deny or minimize red flags of toxic behaviors in our potential partners.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 31, 2018 23:26:20 GMT
tgat, I think the Avoidants posting here have our own brushes with toxic relationships with pwNPD (the ultimate Avoidants who have no capacity for empathy or to connect whatsoever), both overt and covert. Covert NPD is a little more subtle, as they are vulnerable, diffident, etc., and can be mistaken for a AP. I like this quick Narc test - The Smiling No www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcWvJmWIlo0It is true that no matter their flavor, telling a pwNPD "No" or disagree with them over anything will bring about a sudden "coldness" or "chill", if not rage. There is a stare of emotionless expression for that quick moment. That is a clear red flag imho.
|
|
|
Post by goldilocks on Feb 10, 2018 18:32:31 GMT
Biggest red flag is someone who does not respect my boundaries.
It also very much turns me off if he does not have his life together or is afraid to be alone.
Being unkind to himself and others would also break the deal for me.
Curious; If a guy responds badly to a friendly no, it hardly matters if he is NPD or AP, he would be bad news.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Feb 11, 2018 14:31:34 GMT
Biggest red flag is someone who does not respect my boundaries. It also very much turns me off if he does not have his life together or is afraid to be alone. Being unkind to himself and others would also break the deal for me. Curious; If a guy responds badly to a friendly no, it hardly matters if he is NPD or AP, he would be bad news. goldilocks you have been reading my diary hahaha! what is also important to me now as i try to enter the dating world- if i express that i have life commitments or am simply exhausted or something and need time to take care of that, anything less than a fully supportive and understanding response turns me cold. I understand you’d like my time and attention, i’d like to give it to you, but i had priorities long before you came along and i don’t even know you. i don’t need you, you’re really going to have to let me get to know you enough to want you. i think a secure person understands this and doesn’t sweat it. And, it’s very easy for me to see if you are insecure or don’t respect yourself. If you don’t take good care of yourself you will expect me to do that for you. I have 4 kids i am responsible for, and i’m not looking for a 5th. Sounds harsh maybe, but i want an adult relationship with two adults on equal footing. in that case, i am very giving and supportive and nurturing. and i trust that my partner can be the same.
|
|
|
Post by goldilocks on Feb 11, 2018 18:57:51 GMT
An adult relationship on equal footing is not too much to ask for. Particularly when one is happy to be single, why tolerate dysfunction?
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Feb 11, 2018 19:09:27 GMT
An adult relationship on equal footing is not too much to ask for. Particularly when one is happy to be single, why tolerate dysfunction? amen, sistahfriend! find a partner with compatible needs and health to meet them , that’s the goal.
|
|
|
Post by goldilocks on Feb 11, 2018 19:31:03 GMT
:-) I agree completely! By the way, if you want to talk privately, you are free to send a message.
|
|
|
Post by ocarina on Feb 11, 2018 19:32:03 GMT
An adult relationship on equal footing is not too much to ask for. Particularly when one is happy to be single, why tolerate dysfunction? Absolutely. Red flags - ex who said all his exes were crazy ( I wonder why?!) - " I can't do relationships" - Rudeness to waiters or other staff - Self centredness - Control - Belief that issues in relationships were always the other persons - Withdrawing for weeks with no contact to process - days or hours would be fine, but weeks was a taste of what was to come. - Negative views on relationships in general - ie long term relationships are always miserable, slating of exes - No I love you - or only once! This was an interesting one - I might start a thread on this.....
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Feb 11, 2018 19:38:03 GMT
haha withdrawing for weeks is breaking up. i don’t know how it could be seen as anything else! coming back, would be re initiating a broken “relationshit”
taking back, would be volunteering to re-initiate a “relationshit”
darn autocorrect keeps correcting me when i try to type “relationship”
hahahahaha 😂😂😂😂😂
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Feb 11, 2018 19:38:48 GMT
An adult relationship on equal footing is not too much to ask for. Particularly when one is happy to be single, why tolerate dysfunction? Absolutely. Red flags - ex who said all his exes were crazy ( I wonder why?!) - " I can't do relationships" - Rudeness to waiters or other staff - Self centredness - Control - Belief that issues in relationships were always the other persons - Withdrawing for weeks with no contact to process - days or hours would be fine, but weeks was a taste of what was to come. - Negative views on relationships in general - ie long term relationships are always miserable, slating of exes - No I love you - or only once! This was an interesting one - I might start a thread on this..... and check check check all of these for red flags! all of them spell “NOPE”
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Feb 12, 2018 4:05:55 GMT
Biggest red flag is someone who does not respect my boundaries. It also very much turns me off if he does not have his life together or is afraid to be alone. Being unkind to himself and others would also break the deal for me. Curious; If a guy responds badly to a friendly no, it hardly matters if he is NPD or AP, he would be bad news. "Biggest red flag is someone who does not respect my boundaries." AP here - I think this is a particularly difficult thing to judge when an AP and an FA/DA get together. From my perspective, my opposite's boundaries appeared to fluctuate; particularly in the area of intimacy and in the latter month of the relationship where we were getting pretty close. This is the entire essence of the toxic push/pull dynamic - the lack of consistency in responses. AP reaches out, FA/DA responds randomly [to our perspective.] The boundary of the FA/DA's bubble is unpredictable and confusing [to us.] So I guess the absolutist way in which this rule is stated is something a little contentious, depending on who you ask i’m sorry XOff, in starting the thread i was hoping to keep the conversation limited to DA experience of dating. without the AP/Da debate. please read the opening post. this is for us working on our own issues and discovering what is important to us in our healing and process , as avoidants. do you mind moving your post? its really important to have a place to not argue the dynamic. the DA question answer forum is another matter but in this thread i am hoping for avoidant recovery space for our own needs.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Feb 12, 2018 4:06:48 GMT
most of us do not even care to date anxious now that we are in recovery
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Feb 12, 2018 4:45:02 GMT
most of us do not even care to date anxious now that we are in recovery this times 100!
|
|