What to Do When Aliens Abduct Your New Boyfriend

By YourTango

Seriously . . . where'd he go? YourTango has advice for when your new boyfriend stops messaging you.

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Finally, a great connection! You've never felt so in love. The colors are brighter, and the intimacy is growing in your new relationship every day. You can't stop talking about him to your friends, even when you see their eyes starting to glaze over. You can pull up that cute picture of him on your phone in two seconds flat. And then, one day, perhaps after a fantastic weekend, meeting your friends or engaging in a more serious talk about the future, the frequent texts and calls slow down or stop cold.

You panic. You wonder frantically: is it over? Why is he suddenly being cold? What did I do? Why is this happening? What a jerk!

Most likely, he's in what I call "The Pullback." I call it a pullback because, like a rubber band, the expansion of love has stretched him far out of himself and maybe even his comfort zone, and he is now pulling back into himself.

What most women do at this point, and it's probably the worst thing she can do in that frenzied state, is contact him repeatedly in a panic and/or rage. Anyone who has ever done this knows that horrible feeling of out-of-control texting, or hanging up after acting like a crazed person, replete with accusations and tears, only to be met with further silence.

The other reaction women may have is to retaliate and break up with him or punish him in another way, such as posting cryptic or hurtful social media status updates. Although there may be legitimate reasons to discontinue the relationship, breaking up in response to a pullback is usually premature. But something must be done with the intense feelings his pullback creates. Let's start with some understanding.

Understanding The Pullback

Occasionally a pullback is an act of mean-spirited or immature behavior, but most often, a guy will pull back as a healthy way to manage the following state of feelings:

  1. Overwhelm: His feelings for you are putting him in touch with the fact that his life will change. Being in love and committing to the relationship is going to require a different focus of energy and create what feels like restrictions on his life and being. He is coming to terms with who he needs to be in order to take this next big step. And he'd rather wrestle with the immensity of it alone.
  2. Loss: He doesn't know how to articulate it, but he is afraid he will lose his autonomy — his ability to live life on his own terms. He will pull away from you not only because he sees you as the cause of this loss, but also because the loss itself is hard to deal with. You are not the cause. Change is a part of life, and we all make sacrifices in a variety of situations to create room for new and wonderful things. But he might not be able to see it that way. He may need to cast you in the role of "freedom snatcher" and reject you for a bit while he assesses and manages the loss.
  3. Shame: At the deepest part of some men whose hearts are very tender and equally armored, there may be a secret desire to completely give over to the relationship. This desire is in dire contrast with what he has been taught about being a man, and he will feel an unnameable inner conflict that may inspire him to temporarily reject you. Compassion is in order. Women are acculturated to be more accepting and expressive about their desires for love.

For more advice, head to YourTango: What to Do When Aliens Abduct Your New Boyfriend

— Blair Glaser

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