“You too, like your girlfriend, have a soft spot for him and gave him way too much leeway. You say you cared about his well-being. Does it mean you felt responsible for him, felt obliged to take care of him, in spite of his lousy character? Have you felt similarly obliged towards your family members perhaps?”

Hm, I’d say it comes from my loyalty. I’ve had no issues with cutting him off for weeks or even months when his behavior was completely out of hands. I must also say that there were times where he was very unstable or borderline suicidal over me telling him to cool off and cutting contact for a few days.