Something Informative

 How Avoidant Attachment Styles Drain You of Love.

Let’s talk about something that feels like love, looks like chemistry, starts like magic but ends in confusion, self-doubt, and emotional fatigue.

What Is an Avoidant Attachment Style?

An avoidant attachment style is developed when, early in life, a person learns that emotional closeness is either unsafe, overwhelming, or unrewarding.

So they grow up believing:

“I’m better off alone.”

“I can’t trust anyone to really be there for me.”

“Needing people makes me weak.”

And as adults, they love but at a distance.

They crave intimacy but only on their terms.

They want connection but they fear being consumed by it.

So what do they do?

They build emotional castles with no drawbridge. Avoidants are often charming. Independent. Driven. Mysterious. Self-contained. To your nervous system, they seem secure. But what they really are is guarded. And if you’re the empathetic, emotionally available, “I just want to love you well” type?

You’ll see them and think:

“They just need the right person to break down those walls.”

And guess what? You’ll spend months, years, trying to be that person.

But Loving Them Feels Like This:

Reaching out, and being met with silence. Asking for connection, and being called “too needy.” Having deep talks, only for them to emotionally vanish the next day. Feeling like every vulnerable moment pushes them further away.

And at some point, you start asking yourself:

“Am I too much? Am I asking for too much? Is it me?”

No. It’s not just you. It’s the fact that you are pouring love into someone who sees intimacy as a threat.

Avoidant people can love. But their love is often wrapped in distance. Delays. Defensiveness. And disconnection.

And loving them will slowly drain you if:

You’re constantly guessing how they feel. You’re the only one initiating connection. You’re getting crumbs and calling it a meal.

Your self-esteem is deteriorating while you try to “fix” the dynamic. You’re afraid to express needs because it’ll make them pull away.

Avoidants aren’t always villains but their wounds make them emotionally unavailable and loving unavailable people breaks you over time. You Start to Shrink. You stop asking for reassurance. You stop bringing up your needs. You stop expecting real intimacy. You shrink, hoping that if you just become smaller, more chill, more low-maintenance they’ll stay.

But here’s the bitter truth:

They don’t love the smaller version of you either. Because it was never about your size. It was about their fear of closeness. You can water yourself down until you’re unrecognizable, and it still won’t make them lean in. Avoidants often create a push-pull dynamic. They pull away, then come back when you stop chasing. They act cold, then show just enough warmth to keep you hooked. They drop breadcrumbs of affection but never give you the whole loaf.

And your heart becomes addicted to the maybe. Maybe if I give more. Maybe if I stop complaining. Maybe if I wait longer. But love shouldn’t feel like gambling. You shouldn’t be holding your breath for breadcrumbs. You shouldn’t need emotional acrobatics just to feel connected.

Being with someone avoidant will have your nervous system in survival mode. Your nervous system is hooked on the adrenaline of chasing closeness that never lands. And over time? You’ll call it love but it’s not. It’s trauma repetition.

It hurts so deeply because you’re not just losing them you’re losing parts of yourself in the process. You become someone who settles for inconsistent affection. Overanalyzes every text.

Accepts silent treatments as “just how they are”. Turns love into labor and the deepest heartbreak? You’re still trying to earn the kind of love that should’ve been freely given.

You Think You Can Fix It. This is the trap. Love is not a rescue mission. Sometimes the most loving thing you can do is walk away. Not because you stopped loving them but because you finally started loving yourself.

Stop trying to decode mixed signals. Stop accepting emotional starvation. Start choosing reciprocity over chemistry. Start realizing that your love deserves a safe place to land.

Healing is when love feels like peace, not confusion. Like softness, not survival. Like home not hide and seek.

Avoidants aren't bad people. They’re wounded people.

But if they’re not doing the work to heal, then you will become the collateral damage of their fear and you were never created to bleed for someone else’s comfort.

So if you’ve been slowly disappearing in the name of patience, loyalty, and “waiting for them to be ready”, come home to yourself. Because the right kind of love won’t drain you. It will choose you back.

Yours in #emotionalintelligence,

Oyinkansola Alabi

#TheEmotionsDoctor

Source - Facebook