While both of us would be nonplussed if the other had an affair or one-night-stand, there are three patterns that we’ve even fallen prey to that we know could be (almost) silent killers for us and probably any other couple. RELATED: Woman Asks If She’s Wrong For Refusing To Split Costs Of Family Vacation Evenly With Sister Despite Not Having Kids
Here are 3 silent relationship killers that are worse than cheating:
1. Withholding attention
You’ve heard about “ghosting” right? Pretty extreme and most people wouldn’t dream of doing it to the love of their life, and most of us would notice pretty quickly if we were being ghosted. But there are so many ways of withholding attention that isn’t even intentional. Preoccupation – you know, like with your phone, or the television (we don’t have one of those, but the internet is a close runner-up.) Or maybe just preoccupied with your own thoughts – we’re both prone to getting lost in our heads, in the clouds, or in time. Or shutting down – crawling into the shell of self to process, to stew, to ponder, or just to hang out and relax. Even if it’s not intended to hurt, when you withhold your attention from your partner, your lover, or that person who is in your life because they get off on being with you, you’re committing a “micro-aggression” toward that thing that keeps you together. And if you are withholding attention as a way to prove a point, or strike back, stop that right now. Everyone needs to withdraw and unplug but don’t retreat in order to get even. Hurting someone emotionally always leaves a mark. RELATED: Mom Raises Concerns About 3-Year-Old Daughter Spending Time With Polyamorous Ex & His Multiple Partners
2. Withholding trust
Everyone brings past relationships into the current dynamic. Whether those relationships were with spouses, lovers, friends, siblings, parents, authority figures, or the Grinch next door, they create patterns of trust and lack of it. None of those patterns are about your partner, but they certainly affect your partner. We’ve navigated land mines and dungeons of trigger wires and green-eyed monsters until we can guess when something is a “this is about me not you” kind of thing, but when either of us senses a lack of trust it can still range all the way from a minor road bump to a steep hill. But if you’re withholding your trust for a reason, justified or not, a shifting of boundaries or treating a partner with suspicion is always going to result in tension. Deciding to withhold trust is one of the deepest betrayals you can inflict on a partner. It puts up a wall and reflects their worst traits back at them. No relationship, however loving, can survive that for very long. RELATED: Woman Asks If She’s Wrong For Feeling Betrayed By Her Sister’s Husband Representing Her Ex In Their Divorce
3. Withholding intimacy
Intimacy isn’t going through the motions. And it isn’t (always) a romantic performance or expectation. Intimacy is meeting on the same, shared plane of experience. On purpose. Physical intimacy is important to a romantic partnership. Actually, for us anyway, it’s vital. It’s not just about sex, that’s only one of many ways we physically demonstrate our love for each other. But there is nothing wrong with saying that sexual intimacy is a cornerstone of our physical intimacy. But emotional intimacy is even more important. Without that the physical or sexual intimacy is just “off.” We’re not really in it together if there is an emotional barrier between us. It’s perfectly natural that there are times one or both of us will just need to be left alone. For one thing, we’re both introverts (highly social, but definitely introverts.) For another thing, we’re human. So it’s going to happen. But if either of us ever withheld intimacy — of any kind — not from our own need for personal time and space, but as a tactic or punishment, or if we ever displaced that intimacy usually reserved for each other onto another person, it’s likely that we would cause wounds that would take a long time to heal – if they ever did. We both have intimate friends, but those friends never come first for either of us. First is always reserved just for each other. None of these patterns are the instant end game that a sexual fling might be, but they are all slow, steady drips of betrayal that eventually erode even the strongest relationship. RELATED: Woman Asks If She’s Wrong For Charging Niece To Live In Home Her Daughter Lives In Rent-Free Bethany Allendale and Stu McLauren are writers who focus on their love, relationships, art, and philosophy. This article was originally published at The Good Men Project. Reprinted with permission from the author.
