Fearful avoidant testing behavior reddit. Self Sabotage, Protest .


Fearful avoidant testing behavior reddit I don’t understand why though because we had a really tumultuous relationship. However, as I have gotten to know this person better there’s a few patterns that give me extreme pause as I think they are indicative of avoidant attachment. While they can be very similar, BPD is a personality disorder which means having mixed feelings on romantic relationships is only ONE aspect of the disorder. 5 months now i feel I've been ghosted going on 6 People who have a fearful avoidant (or disorganized, which I think is a better term) attachment style typically had traumatic childhoods with deeply inconsistent, chaotic or abusive parents. You'll notice them doing things that might surprise you, like Jun 16, 2024 · Whether you are the fearful-avoidant or you are the partner of one, you might experience the push/pull behavior. She's a popular girl that gets a lot of attention and I would say she tries to attract all these people and make them Adults with “fearful” attachment styles feel lonely and want closeness in relationships. I understand that they have We started off great, quickly became very close, but after a month or so she said to me she needed space because things were moving too fast. The avoidant wants to connect and trust someone they So I recently tested and came up secure in all relationships except my dad (no relationship there at all so makes sense). Secure, healthy people are not super into strangers. I lean anxious. He's been traveling for 3 weeks and it's hard b/c I can't see him and his communication is sparse. 1. Mine came back after 2 weeks, a month, 8 months and 2 years lol. The last PDS test I took put me at: 50% FA 25% DA 25% SA (Secure) 0% AP For the cherry on top, I love being alone and I’m really scared of commitment! I recently got into therapy to address all these issues and it’s been great, mostly addressing my anxiety. (Ashley Maddison), chat apps, a physical affair, was following multiple adult accounts on Reddit, and chatting with 3-5 women on Kik when I found out. I mean, there are a LOT of traits being described in that article for Fearful Avoidant behavior. Members Online. Other reasons besides parents for avoidant behavior {DA} It’s a theory, and it needs more testing, but it makes WAY more sense to me than trying to find trauma in my relatively happy childhood. In this episode of On Attachment, we explore how this attachment style plays Oct 21, 2024 · But in reality, they're testing the waters, seeing if they can trust you with their heart. I wonder if you’re actually subconsciously distancing yourself away from a person based on their “shortcomings” as a way of protecting yourself. if you plan on being with a fearful avoidant, you better be OK with close to no affection from your partner lol and being very confused a lot and expect to be blamed by the fearful avoidant for the lack of intimacy lmao. I really want to stop vilifying avoidant people going forward and transition into a secure person that can find secure people for myself or help an avoidant heal. " I don't think it matters. He came on strong and sweet, but the mixed messages were always there, and he told me red flag stories upfront: He had no friends, he had a history of burning bridges, he had a savior complex and was attracted to "crazy" women, he was indecisive and didn't know what he wanted out of life in general. It’s amazing at first, but then I feel as if passion is missing. Searching her name and “fearful avoidant” on YouTube should give you some helpful results. As a recovering Anxious attached, I'm running as soon as I spot Avoidant behaviour. Intellectually, I know it's a coping mechanism to "protect" himself, but it's still hurtful sometimes. I have read that they avoid the ones they have deep feelings for out of fear of intimacy, in the beginning there is less intimacy and closeness so they will have sex & as the intimacy deepens & closer the 2 of you become they no longer have sex with you & start to pull away . Interesting! I test evenly on fearful and dismissive avoidance, and after a while, I do find a spark missing if the relationship feels easy. The child never manages to figure out how to seek connection because nothing works, and so it’s nearly impossible to develop cohesive coping mechanisms (like protest behavior, or avoidance). Was this your first date with someone since then? I think it's normal and very understandable that you're questioning yourself after the kind of breakup you had; I also think you don't have enough to go on yet to know whether your attachment style has switched (and I also think another commenter has a great point about the I am also fearful avoidant. I’ve heard it explained as avoidants being self anxious (in their heads) and anxious preoccupied as being self avoidant. I've just spent all morning delving into some detail about attachment theory, and have come to the realisation that I'm primarily Fearful Avoidant (although the test I took had me down as secure, so I don't think it's too good at picking up some key traits). It's hard when the other person tries to put ALL the responsibility on you and never wants to take ownership as well. I am afraid that I was acting this out towards my significant other without realizing it until long after the fact. Log In / Sign Up; Advertise on Reddit; No excuse for bad behavior. I'm sorry for your breakup, that sounds really tough. I lean secure just because I’ve had a secure husband for 17 years. It also sounds like a bit of avoidant behavior as well. I'm a fearful avoidant. I would consider myself fairly secure and this is causing me distress dealing with some aspects of her behavior. Both anxious and avoidant attachments rush into relationships. A lot of it is CBT repackaged for attachment styles, but it worked for me. Sometimes I feel very threatened and sick to my stomach. Log In / Sign Up; Advertise on Reddit; When trying to win back a fearful avoidant after No Contact, would sending a message like this make sense, The bulk of my attachment behavior is AP so I get how you feel. Please respect our space My fearful avoidant ex of 5 years reached out 3 times and each time we tried again and each time it was the same pattern. I just want to give a bit of backstory, I dated my ex for I think barely half a year (5 1/2 months) and we are both fearful-avoidants. I’m more fearful avoidant (especially at first) but over time I generally move much more to the dismissive avoidant side. For context, I am a male, in my early 30's. my best advice to you is to walk away and never look back. The few self-aware avoidants who I look up to continue to do so, and the overwhelming majority of avoidant people I know do not come anywhere close to being able to understand it. I'm literally tearing up reading your post and this reply. r/FearfulAvoidant A chip A close button. I can understand some of their tendencies being avoidant myself. It deals with your: perceptions, identity, emotional regulation, relationships, process thoughts, etc. I recently realized that I am a fearful avoidant. If that means reaching for Reddit, then that is what I’m going to do. the reason why i say that first generation asians are most likely to be avoidant is because i am also a 1st gen avoidant asian. She had expressed she is confident in her decision to end the relationship - this is not avoidant either. Place for people to discuss Avoidant Personality Disorder. I reverted back to my OG FA self during the pandemic (along with other mental health concerns) and that’s when I started to look into my mental health/start to heal. A situationship begins (or won’t end). I'm sorry to hear you are going through this. I think as someone else said, INFPs may simply "disappear" because they are highly introverted individuals and may need time alone or to process before responding. Maybe it’s an attempt to relive the situation but gain control this time. Yup, my last relationship. The last PDS test I took put me at: 50% FA 25% DA 25% SA (Secure) 0% AP I have spent years working on myself, and I still feel like a slave to my avoidant tendencies. I have lots of negative thoughts about why she's immature, negative, complainy, draining, a gossip, untrustworthy, disrespectful, crosses my boundaries (I feel like I have to constantly reinforce things and she persuades me to do things I've already stated I don't want to do) and so on. They typically take things slowly and get to know people at a steady pace. . Also, there is no approval process (unlike most other attachment theory subs). For those who do not have an avoidant attachment style looking for answers, there is a wealth of information for you available by keyword searching "FAQ. If someone seems super into you from the beginning that’s probably a sign of avoidant behavior. Personally, I noticed the characteristics that I always found attractive, like “calm, cold, lowkey” etc were all suitable for avoidant Sounds fearful avoidant - leaning avoidant. last guy i was obsessed with for months had problems with cuddling, was extremely self centered, emotionally unavailable and really good looking. Please review the subreddit rules prior to participating to ensure this subreddit remains on topic. You want love and connection, but when you receive what you finally crave, the avoidance /deactivating strategies kick in (cold Also known as Anxious Avoidant or Disorganized attachment. I do not know how to teach them. Get the Reddit app Scan this QR code to download the app now. I (FA/ AP if I'm with an avoidant), tend to run away from guys who show too much interest too quickly (unless they're unavailable). I was a sugar baby/escort for a solid few years in my 20s with minimal real dating experience before that, so all I'd ever experienced were men who were either "too busy" for a real relationship or married (which I feel guilty about now), but This fearful avoidant man and I have gotten into a situation where he doesn’t want me and he doesn’t want to be without me. Avoidants begin falling in love by slowly breaking down their emotional walls. Plus a password protected folder he conveniently deleted before I could get to it. It made me more resilient in some ways, but also created alot of unwanted baggage in how I showed up in regards to affection in later relationships. You should call out the behavior. Right now they are doing a 7 day free trial, so you might want to check it out for a week free. The most important thing to recognise here is that the Avoidant feels most at ease with a partner at arm's length, because they feel suffocation easily. Also known as Anxious Avoidant or Disorganized attachment Skip to main content. This leads people with a fearful-avoidant attachment to avoid the very relationships they crave. When he wants to be an adult, and answer your legitimate question, then maybe there will After spending time with a particular friend (30F), I (28F) literally spend a day in bed recovering. And then it just became an absolute shitshow of a roller coaster. Distancing. As a recovered fearful avoidant I can say he probably wanted a deeper connection and probably saw something in you, but alot of behavior comes with past experiences that hes seen to this day I still dont keep long term relationships in the boyfriend girlfriend sense. I'd feel either annoyed/aggravated or too guilty to stay in touch. Can you tell me what it was like dating a fearful avoidant? I need to know what it is like so I can learn how to stop it. I still have the underlying fearful-avoidant traits. My ex recently came back into my life and I’m obsessing over her now. " Non-avoidant participation is limited and enforced. Some theories suggest that persons with a fearful-avoidant attachment style may use sex or have higher rates of sexual partners as a way of trying to get their core needs met for connection and belonging that typically went unmet in childhood. Thank you for sharing so honestly! I'm super curious to read insight as I'm involved with an avoidant-leaning FA who is also hung up on the phantom ex. Discussion can be about personal stories, treatment ideas, support for yourself or others, and ideas with how to deal with your own problems dealing with AvPD (not to be confused with Avoidant Attachment!) If their behavior is maladaptive and they don't care to make any changes, no. Which insecurities triggered make you feel more attracted to someone? I always felt insecurities make me detach instead and put my walls up. And if you’re friendly, they may increase. If I got too close, she pushed and ran away, too far, she’d pull me back in. Fearful Avoidant Question I've read many threads about how, when a relationship is getting serious, FAs can get cold feet and self-sabotage, preventing the relationship from progressing. In my experience, breadcrumbs. As to the experience of the people in a relationship with them, it may seem their partner is acting most consistent with one of the insecure attachment styles (anxious-preoccupied or anxious-leaning fearful-avoidant for people with BPD or dismissive-avoidant for people with NPD), but the drivers for their behavior is totally different, as is It started as a test to see their resolve but it eventually turns into the subconscious wanting to repeat the pattern of abandonment--to align with their beliefs of being unlovable. Ex is FA leaning avoidant and I am FA leaning anxious. Oct 16, 2024 · Fearful avoidant attachment, also known as disorganised attachment, can create confusing and contradictory patterns in relationships. But I wish lol I can't ever be clingy because I get bored talking with one person for hours or sometimes need to recharge my social battery so need time I don't remember the distinction between a "fearful" avoidant and the other types of avoidant. 3- The cause: The cause of fearful-avoidant attachment can be attributed to a childhood environment characterized by a lack of consistent comfort and safety, often stemming from experiences such as having a neglectful or unpredictable caregiver or enduring abuse. Or How can you make a Fearful Avoidant feel comfortable with you? If you text him, you allow that behavior. Except for partners who are strictly casual and organically fade, I sometimes remember them fondly. I have also heard a lot about avoidants being into other avoidants because of the familiar environment, which I can relate to. I was being interment reinforced every 2 weeks for 3. This is so relatable, everything you write. You are left riddled with anxiety (even if your secure), questioning your own worth and reality. I notice that I am really struggling with healing the avoidant side of my Fearful Avoidant attachment. Understanding this style can free you of the tyranny of your emotions. I'm fearful avoidant and for good reason: abusive upbringing, and two back to back abusive relationships with clingy and suffocating people at a formative age. for the right reasons and 2. I’m a fearful avoidant, once I’m done with people, my feelings for them tend to disappear and kind of border I'm looking for advice from other FA's and DA's please. I finally had to block to stop the cycle. They would have some anxious protest behavior which also indicated it wasn't healthy for them. She told me she's a fearful avoidant, but that she's not always aware of when she acts on it so she asked, if she even "pulled away", to tell her she was doing it. Get app Get the Reddit app Log In Log in to Reddit. The prototypical fearful-avoidant type would want Feb 29, 2024 · Users on Reddit often share personal stories and advice on healing fearful avoidant attachment, recommending therapy, particularly focusing on trauma and attachment Nov 2, 2023 · People with a fearful-avoidant attachment style distrust others and withdraw from relationships in order to avoid rejection. The longer story is below, but when I find his behavior triggers my own wounds, I communicate clearly to him in writing where I am coming from and compassionately ask him what is going on. It’s a hetero relationship, I’m the male, we are both in our early 30s. Fearful-avoidant attachment affects around 7% of the population. I feel your pain and suffering. Unless he’s working on actually fixing himself the relationship is never going to work. I’ve also become bored with new partners before reaching the commitment stage and am frequently turned off by someone showing too much interest in me (it’s possible I just didn’t have strong enough feelings or it wasn’t a match). ----- The style of connecting/attaching with other people is a direct reflection of our earliest experiences with our caregivers, as well as other influential relationships in our life. You haven’t learned how to relate in an emotionally consistent manner. Log In / Sign Up; Advertise on Reddit; Shop Collectible Avatars; Get the Reddit app I'm fairly certain she's anxious-preoccupied but I'm not sure how much of her behavior is legitimately suspicious and how of it is I’m anxious mixed with a substantial dose of fearful avoidant, and my most recent ex was avoidant. She certainly would be extremely anxious, but would oscillate with a fear of engulfment. That's not to say they're bad people and you can't have them around at all. I’m not sure I agree mate. I'm recently in a romantic relationship with a guy that I "think" is a fearful avoidant, and I see him deactivating before my eyes. I have both BPD and fearful avoidant attachment (lean toward Avoidant). She’s definitely not a classic avoidant, she is a fearful avoidant (disorganised), which is a combination of anxiously and avoidant-ly attached. Or To be honest I do think it could be FA behavior (but needs more info) or simply commitment issues. Hmmm. I don't know if he's dismissive avoidant or fearful avoidant or just a straight up asshole but we were in a cyclical relationship for 6 years. So, for me, the biggest difference between DA and FA (sweeping statement here, so keep that in mind) is that FAs tend to be way more keen on human behavior (we’re emotional, but very analytical about our emotions, so jury’s out on whether we’re actually feeling those emotions🫣), are much more empathetic than DAs, feel more guilt than DAs, and are often fixers He’s either dismissive avoidant or fearful avoidant leaning dismissive. Depending on how close I am to the person and what they are doing, I generally feel trapped, enraged, and an intense need to run. Expand user menu Open settings menu. But I'm positive that she's NOT Secure. I became anxiously attached while with him and I never want to go back to that headspace. So I have determined that my boyfriend of one year has a fearful avoidant attachment style. It felt actionable in a way that other stuff didn't feel. So he pulls away himself. The few times I have dated an anxious person I get the ick so badly and feel Both lmao. I also tend to date avoidant or FA leaning avoidant. I'm a FA and I know its not easy to deal with me. It wasn't until I found out I had fearful avoidant that I realized I was the problem the entire time. also known as fearful avoidant or anxious-avoidant. Ahh yes the fearful avoidant. Fearful avoidants who lean avoidant or dismissive also engage in one or all of these testing behaviours. I agreed, of course. I think the real issue is the overarching avoidant personality. I've befriended one of my avoidant exes and we'd talk once, sometimes a few times a year. Months and months of this behaviour usually causes their partner to become incredibly insecure, they may give up and walk away or criticize the avoidant's behaviours. If they're aware of their behavior and actively working on it (in therapy or not), yes. I’m no psychologist and there are likely other issues going on here, but ALL of this behavior fits very nicely into Severe Fearful Avoidance: the need for space, rushing back, emotional dysregulation, fear of abandonment, all of the push/pull behavior, projecting, gaslighting, rationalizing, and the reframing of the narrative internally is one of the least talked about As an fearful avoidant, I began to open up and not shy away from issues and tried to own my part in our relationship. Just a random text or phone call to test the waters. I dated a fearful avoidant 3 years ago, it was incredible the first 8 months. I have jumped from partner to partner and truly I’ve never 100% trusted the Also sorry for the late response, idk why Reddit doesn’t notify me on time Anyone interested in attachment theory is welcome here, not just fearful-avoidants. i made this post just to share different types of relationship attachments and to suggest therapy for those so, i kinda have a feeling that i might be fearful avoidant and i find myself being so extremely physically and emotionally drawn to avoidant people. i couldn’t get over this situationship months after and was left wondering “why am i To be honest, I'm confused because I still don't know wether she's Avoidant or Fearful Avoidant. Of course I'm biased, but I think he was "more extremely FA" than me. I then read into it a lot, scrolled through Reddit to see what worked for other people, talked about it with my counselor. Sep 22, 2024 · For fearful avoidant individuals, these tests serve multiple purposes: they verify their partner’s commitment, manage their own anxiety, and paradoxically, create distance Sep 22, 2024 · An individual with fearful avoidant testing behavior might seem to crave connection one moment, only to pull away abruptly the next, leaving their partner bewildered and hurt. I know this is a sample size of 1, but my experience with my W makes me a believer. And by too much interest I'm talking about when we are on a first date with a new guy, and he maybe flirts with me before I'm ready to be flirted with, I get a strong "ick" feeling of repulsion, like the weight of his romantic expectations suffocates me, 115 votes, 38 comments. I thought I was one of those types which used to be a lot more clingy. Orrin_Nevian • Fearful Avoidant [Secure Leaning] Yup Fearful avoidant type is me. DAs do need time and space, if it's excessive we do sometimes need gentle encouragement to re-enter the relationship, just keep it positive and focus on the good aspects. Also known as Anxious Avoidant or Disorganized attachment. But if I’m honest, I always asked for a reconciliation. Having done a lot of research on attachment theory and dating a couple of avoidants I’ll clear a few things up here and hopefully this helps. Ex avoidant discarded me on NYE, left with a text and plainly refused to It’s not particularly helpful to tell a group of anxiously avoidant people to screen a potentially new partner with the advice of “if they come from a highly toxic family, they are likely fearful avoidant. Self Sabotage, Protest I still have the underlying fearful-avoidant traits. I got in a situationship once with a guy who was fearful-avoidant. I do try to communicate to him why I’ve ended things irrationally or why I Get app Get the Reddit app Log In Log in to Reddit. I think blanket statements (anything including the term ALL) can be pretty unhelpful in attempts to understand individual behavior. Haven't seen the other side discussed much - what's the best way to respond to this type of behavior, and/or is there anything at all the partner can do to I’m a fearful avoidant, once I’m done with people, my feelings for them tend to disappear and kind of border on contempt. It's classic avoidant behavior to look at something that feels complex, and say "nope, I especially liked the bit about not taking their behavior personally, because that was something I couldn’t understand even though I knew about it while we were together. It could be that he is scared of what you make him feel but I'll be honest, his reason doesnt really matter. This These are the common 4 ways that dismissive avoidant exes test you. When I last took an online test to determine my attachment style it said I was equally fearful avoidant and anxious preoccupied. Every relationship is complex, because people are complex; no relationship is a fairy tale of simplicity devoid of conflict, much as we may wish it. and if he can love me and be there for me despite my anxious behavior, then I can do the same for his chaotic and want to understand when I am crossing lines. But when I didn't know about AT, as far as I was concerned, my behavior was me, so it still felt like I was being It would just trigger my avoidant side. View community ranking In the Top 5% of largest communities on Reddit. I know about Heidi Priebe, I’ve read a bunch including Attached & currently reading Daring to Trust by David Richo(great book btw, highly recommend). Meaning that I think his oscillations between anxious and avoidant modes were more extreme and happened more frequently (sometimes swinging a few times within a day) than mine. The people who hurt me were extremely insecure and did not contain their relationship anxiety at all, and it ruined my life! Also known as Anxious Avoidant or Disorganized attachment. I have been working through Thais Gibson's Personal Development school. I have a hard time understanding that mentality. I recommend watching videos by Thais Gibson on YouTube. What does abandonment anxiety feel like Peenutbuttjellytime • Fearful Avoidant I just can't deal with this behavior anymore. I think my WW might be more along the lines of "dismissive avoidant. I'm so appreciative of your courage to share. To me this sounds like projection and some internal struggles may need to be worked on. I feel like he was a lot less avoidant than me. I feel fairly confident that I've healed the anxious side of it, even though that took me several months to get past. they took the time and actually started to do the work to heal and can actually show you that. 4- What triggers Whereas an Avoidant will avoid communication and tends to withdraw / shut down. She is the head of the personal development school and has made hundreds of videos talking about fearful avoidants (people with disorganized attachment). It’s actually really helped me to learn to self soothe and become more secure (I typically lean anxious). "Alternatively, some fearful-avoidant people may generally not enter into committed relationships at all. If they come from an overbearing family, they are likely dismissive avoidant” (I’m paraphrasing here) I thought it was just anxiety, or maybe bipolar, or just trauma until over time with her letting me in about her past and her behavior patterns lead me to read about attachment styles. But personally, I like to know the emotions of someone I care about but DAs show little interest in any of that. Can someone please explain this to me, I’m kind of new to understanding all of the complexities of the avoidant-anxious cycle. If they do reach out make sure its 1. I'm flipping and flopping between wanting to use protest behavior to get my partner's attention and wanting to deactivate and stop communication altogether. Disorganized is just that, kind of all over the place. Avoidant ex's have pretty much the same strategy of avoiding anything too emotionally invested after the break-up. When with a FA/avoidant I am extremely fawning and codependent and lose myself and please at all costs. It isn’t avoidant behavior to tell someone you don’t really want to communicate with them after breaking up and beginning a new relationship. I'm looking for advice from other FA's and DA's please. I once heard that a fearful avoidant parent will criticize or dismiss behaviours or interests that their child has because they believe the world will reject them for them. Open menu Open navigation Go to Reddit Home. Testing behaviour such as “If I don’t reach out, will they reach out?” or “If I show I moved on, will they chase me?” are common ways both anxious attachment and fearful avoidants test an ex’s interest and/or motional investment and/or May 12, 2023 · People with fearful-avoidant attachment struggle with issues related to intimacy and trust and present a strong need for independence. It’s like walking on eggshells, playing Russian roulette, with a river of fire underneath at the same time. The behavior is brutal, immature and no decent human wouldn’t treat kind hearted people this way. As a DA, someone being active on a dating app while being with you more likely means they're an asshole than a simple avoidant. tay ziwvsy mqvjy mlyhii bnkfka hjkk byve yvsr woppts rty