Questions and Answers

Any advice for dating a girl with unresolved past trauma (non sexual) that makes our relationship difficult and puts a ton of pressure on me. I’m not sure if I should break up for both our sakes though I love this girl

You can love her with all your might, but that “might” might wane if she leaves you drained. That’s not inevitable by any means, but you need to watch the balance between what her love is feeding you and what it will consume.

I know it’s hard to consider leaving someone like that, someone whose greatest sensitivity is to being “too much”. Telling her “it’s over” must feel like a betrayal, because you know you’re confirming every horrible thing she’s ever thought of herself… you’re becoming a part of her abandonment issues. Even though you know that it isn’t her —that it’s ending because of flaws in the interface between two people and not flaws in the people themselves— she’s never going to believe that.

But if you can’t make it work with her, you owe it to her to walk away anyway. As much as she fears abandonment, I’m guessing there’s nothing that would break her heart more completely than watching you grow to quietly resent her.