Enmeshment in romantic relationships

enmeshed partners

In healthy romantic relationships, there’s a balance of closeness and distance. Each partner retains their own identity while also identifying with the relationship to some degree. This interdependence helps partners meet some of their needs themselves, and some are met by their partners. When there’s too much closeness in the relationship, the dynamic becomes unhealthy. …

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9 Fawn responses to narcissistic abuse

fawn response

When faced with a life-threatening situation, an organism generates the following trauma responses: In certain traumatic situations, fight and flight are not the appropriate responses. Neither is freeze. These are the situations where the organism will display a fawn response. The fawn response to trauma is when someone behaves submissively towards an aggressor, communicating: “I’m …

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9 Trauma bond withdrawal symptoms

trauma bonded couple

A trauma bond is an emotional bond that gets formed between an abuser and their victim. An abusive relationship will rarely be 100% abusive. Usually, there’s a mix of abuse and positive bonding in an overall abusive relationship. This keeps the victim stuck in the trauma bond, hoping to get the next fix of positive …

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You tell someone they hurt you, and they get mad

getting mad could be perception

In a healthy and ideal relationship, when you tell someone they hurt you, they own their mistake and apologize. Or they communicate openly and honestly to clear misunderstandings and reach common ground. But why do some people get mad when you tell them they hurt you? There can be many reasons behind this behavior: Your …

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What does ‘love you’ mean? (vs. ‘I love you’)

love you text

Ever gotten a “love you” from your partner that left you wondering what it meant? What’s the difference between saying “I love you” and “love you”? ‘Love you’ and ‘I love you’ have the same literal meaning. The former is a shortened version of the latter. Both are used to express affection. However, omitting the …

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Why you’re annoyed when someone talks too much

talking too much

Annoyance is a negative emotion that signals to us that we should avoid a particular situation, activity, or person. Annoyance is a weak signal of pain that can turn into full-blown anger if the thing annoying us doesn’t stop or go away. Avoiding people, things, and activities that annoy us brings relief, fulfilling the purpose …

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Failing a polygraph when telling the truth

polygraph

A polygraph or a lie detector test is a device that supposedly detects lies. ‘Poly’ means ‘many’, and ‘graph’ means ‘to write or record’. The device has many sensors that record a person’s physiological responses, such as: A marked increase in the above measures indicates sympathetic nervous system arousal, a more technical term for stress …

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Why does life suck so much?

life sucks

What goes on in the mind of a person who says their life sucks?Does their life really suck, or are they being negative? There’s a lot to clarify in this article. Let’s begin. Let’s start with the basics. Like other organisms, humans have the core biological needs of survival and reproduction. Stated differently, humans want …

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6 Signs of being addicted to a person

addicted woman

Addiction can be defined as experiencing a loss of control when doing an activity leading to repetitive engagement in that activity. When you’re addicted to something, you over-invest your resources (time and energy) into it because you can’t help it. We all know that people tend to get addicted to drugs, alcohol, food, shopping, gambling, …

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Psychology of blocking and unblocking

confused blocking and unblocking

Humans are social species. Among the most profound human needs are the need to belong and feel included. Blocking someone on your phone is a modern form of social exclusion. It’s a way of communicating to the blocked person (blockee): “I don’t want you in my life. I don’t want anything to do with you.” …

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