Home→Forums→Relationships→I am an obsessive romantic? should I seek therapy?
- This topic has 8 replies, 5 voices, and was last updated 8 years, 8 months ago by Gigi.
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April 7, 2016 at 8:13 am #101171wingedmindParticipant
I am obsessive when it comes to dating. I am addicted to the feeling of liking someone to the point where I used to force it. I have done this since I was 14 and now I am 20. In order to really solidfy my liking for them, I would constantly fantasize about them. About sex, about having a baby, about getting married. Now I can’t stop doing this and it kills my dating life because I can’t really enjoy it when all of these weird thoughts are running over in my head. I get paranoid and invest so much feelings and get attached to easily. I get so jealous and insecure but I’m good at not showing it thankfully. it eats me up and luckily I’m single. Help…I want to be able to genuinely love someone not out of a self constructed obsession? Its funny cause I consciously know that I don’t want to settle down until a lonngg time from now
April 7, 2016 at 8:29 am #101177anonymousParticipantI have the same problem, I think we will get over with time , instead m diverting myself into hobbies like singing travelling dancing etc . Exercise can help a lot , you need to be consistent about it though . Let me know if you get better suggestions. 🙂
April 7, 2016 at 8:57 am #101180AnonymousGuestDear wingedmind:
What you are saying is that when you feel attached to a guy, and you quickly do, you get this rush in your brain to quickly solidify the attachment, make it secure via sex, marriage and baby. You fear losing the guy and you rush, in your thinking, to prevent losing him.
If you look at the history of your attachment to your parent/s, insight into that will help with your current challenge.
Would you like to examine that history here?
anita
April 7, 2016 at 9:19 am #101185wingedmindParticipantYes perhaps that would be helpful. Also I’d like to point out that I fantasize not actually do those things. And I ruminate on it.
I also noticed that I’m very conscious of who is looking at me. I feel bad when no one glances at me. I have this need to feel desired. I know this isn’t right but I have been doing that since I was a kid. I often get attached to guys who are even jerks, but they make me feel this way. And if they possess a specific set of features, I start obsessing over guys who look similar. In reality, I know that I don’t have a type because the people who I ever really connect with on a deeper level, were unexpected. And as I obsess, it just doesn’t feel right. I know it isn’t right.for my parents, my dad was gone for three years when I was 10. After he got out, he persisted to work jobs that invovled being away from home. My mom was also a full time working parent and I would always be at the baby sitter or left home alone. I’m also an only child.
April 7, 2016 at 9:43 am #101189AnonymousGuestDear wingedmind:
I understood that you fantasize about sex, (having a baby and getting married), this is why I typed above that you “rush in your brain to solidify” the attachment you feel.
Before you start obsessing, you feel fear. Fear fuels the obsessing.
You feel attached to a guy, or you desire attachment to a guy. Then you feel fear, a fear imprinted in your memory from the time you were alone so often, away from your mother and father. That fear is triggered. The thinking part of your brain is now activated, trying to find a solution to the perceived danger:
You may be abandoned (danger)?
*Have a child and he will stay with you
* Get married and he will stay with you
* And have sex with him, this way he will feel attached to you (and you will make a baby)
Does this dynamic make sense to you?
anita
April 7, 2016 at 11:23 am #101193anonymousParticipantSo how do we overcome this sort of fear .?
April 7, 2016 at 12:22 pm #101194AnonymousGuest* Dear anonymous:
First you acknowledge the fear, you call it what it is, indicate when/where it started, when it became excessive. This is the Insight part.
Then you manage fear: you recognize when you feel it (the sensation/s), you pay attention when you sense it. You call it what it is. You take deep breaths, calm yourself. You pay attention where you feel it in the body and pay attention to it, feel where it feels and what it feels like (heaviness in chest, feeling like vomiting are examples of what some feel), then you observe it changing, pay attention how the ex. heaviness changes.
You learn that the fear will not kill you, that it is not dangerous. It only feels dangerous. But it is not. After all you felt it so often and lived to tell about it.
You learn that you can endure it, tolerate it. You are not so scared of it. You learn, over time, to not react to it automatically, rushing to relieve it in self destructive ways.
Over time, paying attention, also called Mindfulness, you develop this skill. It is a skill, described above.
You persist, being gentle and patient with yourself, regularly calming yourself, meditating while sitting, lying down, walking, working… all the time, paying attention to your body, your mind, your environment.
You get down from your thinking head to your body, feel the emotions there instead of obsessing.
anita
April 7, 2016 at 11:07 pm #101248TrevorParticipantI’m glad there are still girls in the world like this – I am a guy and I’m like this but I feel like most of my peers are independent career women (probably a false generalization I make to exaggerate the difficulties) and it may come across as desperate or needy to the opposite sex when I act on the impulses.
I think the trick is to not act on the fantasies – let them develop but do not act on them. So just start with a friendship and let it slowly escalate.
April 8, 2016 at 7:25 am #101273GigiParticipantI have been known to feel this way also, and I know now to chill out because I did rush into marriage and ended up regretting that I settled down. The worst part for me now is thinking I’m ready for marriage again even though it’s only been a year since I left my husband. I get frustrated when I know the guy can commit but it isn’t happening with me. For example, my bf was engaged before but we don’t discuss marriage yet. I want to be laid back and enjoy myself but my mind is constantly racing. Definitely turn to your friends and hobbies and just relax. It is a lot more difficult to get out of a situation once u have marriage and kids. Keep in mind you really want to get to know the person and know how they act in the long term. I know it can feel like you want to prove yourself good enough, but your partner should also be good enough for you!
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