Thanks, Jon. My long term relationship was 6 years. I cared for him a lot but did not see a future together. We had grown apart and I wasn’t happy. I was not interested in being in a relationship, but a few months after that ended I started casually seeing another man. I was not very attached for the first few months, but eventually I fell for him. He told me that he loved me but was not ready to be serious with anyone. I (stupidly) kept seeing him for about a year. Then, he ghosted me – no argument, no goodbye, nothing.

After that I jumped into another 4 month long relationship. This man was very kind but we had nothing in common and I ended things. Then, I had about three shorter term “relationships”. They were each 4-8 weeks. Two of them broke up with me with an explanation (see above) and one ghosted me. This last one has hit me very hard, I really thought that I had found someone I could see a future with, but he did not feel the same way.

I don’t like dating very much because of my sensitive nature. I hate hurting other people’s feelings and I get hurt very easily. I want to be in a serious relationship. To me, that means spending quality time together, confiding in each other, trusting each other and eventually taking “next steps” like living together, getting married, etc.

I’ve decided to take a dating break for the next few months then reevaluate. The anxiety I felt with this last relationship made me absolutely miserable. The weekend that he was at the wedding and I didn’t hear from him I literally felt paralyzed. I couldn’t go out with my friends, run errands, etc. I never want to feel like that again.