Over time I’ve learned to confront the infamous “red flags” when it comes to the dating world.
There may have been a tiny voice inside my head that said “this doesn’t seem right,” but because I didn’t truly want to believe that was the case, I’d push it aside and move on. Well, one of the more pet-peevish warning signs that always left me clueless was when the other person (in my situations it was a guy, but I don’t want to target the whole male species here) could not express how he felt.
It’s also unfortunate when the silence goes beyond just articulating feelings, and he simply can’t communicate… at all. Your messages and texts go ignored, and you’re left wondering how you didn’t foresee this issue to begin with.
We all know communication in relationships is important, but in the early stages, is a tight-lipped manner a red flag signaling you to run the other way?
I’d say yes, considering a block in communication is fatal in serious, long-term relationships. “The degree of block can vary with the severity or repeating of the communication stop,” Daniel Evans writes in his article, “The Importance of Communication in Relationships.” “A block in the relationship exists or will grow when communication is just flat out avoided.”
Evans grew up with the notion of not wanting to upset others; however, that only propelled him to avoid communicating on touchy topics altogether. “In adult relationships, this behavior only avoided the hard issues that people have to work through for the relationship to be healthy and grow.”
Along with avoidance, diversion is another troublesome communication tactic. If the other person’s questions and curiosities are not addressed, the relationship will no longer be able to move forward.
Anna Solo, a freelance photojournalist, asserts that a lack of communication in any stage of a relationship should be constituted as a red flag. “People often wait to expose their flaws until after they’ve gotten comfortable with someone, so if that quality pops up right at the start, I feel like it can only go downhill…
Read more: Lauren Suval, Psych Central
