Being ghosted sucks, but if you’re dating in this day and age, it’s unlikely you’ll ever avoid being ghosted entirely (or even ghost a few people yourself.). It’s just part of life! And while it can be confusing to have someone who seemed so into you suddenly just...go quiet, it’s just proof it wasn’t meant to be.

This content is imported from {embed-name}. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.

For starters, know that you’re not alone—even the Duchess of Freaking Sussex was reportedly ghosted by a dude who seemed to like her in the beginning. But why? Why do dudes who seem to like you suddenly freak out and bail without any explanation?

The answer has a little bit to do with human nature, explains Niloo Dardashti , PhD, a psychologist and relationship expert in New York City. “You feel something very strongly, and then after you actually get to know the person, you see their real self and things change,” she adds. It’s hard not to take it personally when you get ghosted, but remember: being ghosted doesn’t necessarily mean the person didn’t like you at one point.

“I think it’s very likely that you could have feelings for someone and just be so overloaded with choice and people around you, you aren’t in tune with what’s really right for you,” says Dardashti.

Other than that, ghosting can happen for other reasons beyond your control, as Kamil Lewis, AMFT, a sex and relationships expert, says. It’s possible that maybe the person just wasn’t ready for a relationship at the time or someone else came into the picture.

Other common ghosting reasons? They might fear conflict and thus by ghosting, says Lewis, think they’re sparing themselves of having to go through an official “breakup.” They could also be fearful that if they try to break up, they’ll be persuaded to stay in a relationship that they really don’t want to be in. You don’t want to convince someone to stay with you if their heart isn’t in it anyway—you deserve way better.

And sure, while it’d be a bit more polite to have every relationship end with an official breakup, ghosting is truly just proof that it wasn’t meant to be. For some real talk on the matter, we spoke to dudes who ghosted girls they admittedly liked at the beginning (and sometimes also at the end!) to get to the bottom of this.



John B.*, 28, ghosted a girl after a month when he couldn’t tell whether she was interested.

“I met this woman through a dating app and we went out to drinks, talked, kissed, and planned to see each other again. We ended up going out a handful of times, hooked up a few times, and she stayed over too. I cooked her a birthday dinner, did all the cute things, and thought it was going well for about a month. I liked her a good bit.

“She rarely ever texted me or called. I couldn’t tell if she was just not interested or if she needed me to make all the effort.

“I tried talking to her IRL about it but got nothing from her, so I just stopped texting her, and she never reached out. I felt like if she wasn’t going to make the effort, then it wasn’t worth continuing to try—especially after I tried to have a convo in person about it.

“I’m a big communicator. I’m not afraid of those tough convos and prefer to be up front. But when someone just gives me nothing, even if our in person hangs are stellar, things just feel off.”

William, 28, ghosted a girl after he realized her emotional outbursts were taking a toll on his own health and a sign of a toxic relationship.

“I met this girl in the summer of 2014, just before transferring universities. I thought she was stunning. We exchanged numbers and dated throughout spring and summer of 2014. We enjoyed hot dates, great sex—it was awesome.

“All along she had emotional tantrums, and they worsened over time. They were frustrating and difficult to deal with. One time, it resulted in her speeding at 101 mph around 2:00 a.m. and another was her throwing a fit in front of my mother—among other examples.

“It was frustrating and emotionally draining. I felt like I was walking on eggshells around her and could no longer stand her. Adults shouldn’t be throwing tantrums, and I thought it was a sign of emotional immaturity, and definitely a red flag for a toxic relationship.

“I wound up ghosting her when I transferred schools. She would send me lots of messages, saying she really missed me and long emotional messages for months afterwards and they started giving me the creeps after a while. I never replied to any of her messages.”

Mark*, 22, ghosted a girl he was seeing for a couple of months until he decided she was “a little annoying.”

“I met this girl my senior year of college. We had a ton of mutual friends throughout school, but I never really made any effort to get to know her,” he says. “We had some people over toward the end of the year after the bars and we just kind of hit it off.”

They started seeing each other regularly for a month or two, and all was going well...until they went golfing with his friends one day.

“At first, everything was fine and we were all having fun. But by the time we made it through the front nine, she was already complaining about how bored she was and how much more fun she would’ve had doing anything else,” he recalled.

“It was a little annoying, and I wasn’t looking for anything serious at the time, so I felt fine just going separate ways after graduation.” He stopped responding to her texts and Snaps altogether.

This content is imported from {embed-name}. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.

Dan*, 19, decided he was in too deep when the woman he was seeing let her know how much she liked him—which spooked him.

“I met this girl who was a friend of a friend’s and she seemed chill and normal, so we ended up exchanging Snaps. Then a week later, we made plans to hang out,” he says. “We went on a super-lowkey date where we just went up to the top of some hill and ate while we watched the sunset.”

“We kissed for a bit, and while we were kissing, she started giggling. I was like, ‘Uhhhhh what’s up?’ and she said, ‘This is gonna sound dumb, but when I first met you, I had a really good feeling about you and me.’” Dan admits he thought what she said was a little weird but said he felt the same way too.

“Then she got super wide-eyed and said, ‘I swear to god, sparks flew! I knew you felt that connection too. I knew it.’” Let’s just say, that freaked Dan out even more. “I was pretty rattled about that, and I was like, ‘Yeah, maybe things might be moving a bit too fast.’ So after that, I just stopped texting or Snapping her even though I did still kind of like her.”

This content is imported from {embed-name}. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.

Daveed M., 27, had a pretty legit reason for ghosting.

“I hooked up with a married woman (she also had two kids). At the time, she told me she was divorced. Sadly, that was a lie, which I found out via social media. She ended up texting, Snapchatting, and Instagramming me. I had to go ghost mode because I felt guilty.”

This content is imported from {embed-name}. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.

Axle*, 26, ghosted a woman he originally really liked because she was rude to his friends.

He met her out, and the two immediately hit it off. “I ended up hooking up with her that night and got breakfast the next day. I thought she was super cool,” he says.

“We went out a couple of times, and then the first time I brought her to introduce her to friends, she got kind of drunk and super weird. She wasn’t friendly at all and made fun of one of my friends. I kind of ditched her that night, and she texted me the next morning apologizing. I was like, ‘Oh, no, I get it. It happens.’ But then, afterward, never spoke to her again.”

This content is imported from {embed-name}. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.

Colby W., 26, ghosted his girlfriend of a year and a half after he found out she was cheating on him.

“She had been acting distant and different, straying from our normal routine of calling and FaceTiming (because this was a long-distance relationship),” he says. “Her friend felt so bad for me, she ended up telling me. I didn’t feel like she deserved my energy anymore, which is why I ghosted. A formal breakup would’ve only led to a heated argument where she tried to explain why she did it and that she’ll never do it again, but the trust was broken.”

This content is imported from {embed-name}. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.

Anand B., 43, ghosted a woman because she was super ambitious and destined for greatness—he just didn’t have those same aspirations for himself.

Anand met her through a mutual friend eight years ago. They hit it off instantly and wound up dating on and off for years. To this day, Anand says she’s “amazing beyond description.” So why ghost someone so obviously awesome?

“It wasn’t an instant ghosting decision, but I just knew I’d hold her back somehow,” he says. “It was becoming clear that no matter how it played out, she’d most likely end up compromising for me. I just can’t let a woman like that compromise herself, especially not to that drastic of an extent. I couldn’t even take the risk of giving her that choice nor the chance to salvage the relationship via traditional breakup talk.”

This content is imported from {embed-name}. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.

Axle, 26 (yes, same dude as above) ghosted again, because he wasn’t ready for anything serious.

“I was originally set up with this woman by my friend. We went on a bunch of double dates, and I liked her as someone to date but not to turn into a girlfriend. It was summer, and I wanted to be single and have fun. Then she tagged me in a picture of us with my friend and his girlfriend together, so I untagged myself to make it clear I didn’t want to be in a relationship. She got the hint, but then I met another girl, fell in love, and just completely ghosted the other girl.”

This content is imported from {embed-name}. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.

Moral of the story? A ghoster’s reasons for ghosting are often all about them—they’re not ready for a real relationship, real feelings, real conversations, etc.—and have nothing to do with you. So if and when you ever get ghosted, walk away from that situation knowing you dodged a bullet! And you’re better off moving on.



*Name has been changed.

Want to get the hottest sex positions, the wildest confessions, and the steamiest secrets right to your inbox? Sign up for our sex newsletter ASAP.

Subscribe

Candice Jalili Candice is a dating expert and the author Just Send The Text, out Feb. Carina Hsieh Sex & Relationships Editor Carina Hsieh lives in NYC with her French Bulldog Bao Bao — follow her on Instagram and Twitter • Candace Bushnell once called her the Samantha Jones of Tinder • She enjoys hanging out in the candle aisle of TJ Maxx and getting lost in Amazon spirals.

This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io