Many people know the gut-punch feeling of being ghosted at least one in your life. A recent survey found that as many as 30% of Americans have been the victim of ghosting.
Whether it’s a friend or a romantic interest, you’re talking to someone, and everything seems fine.
And then suddenly, they’re gone. You can’t contact them. They won’t respond to you (or worse, block you!).
Why would anyone do it? It turns out there are some compelling reasons why people ghost, even if it’s rude as hell.
In an article for HuffPost, self-described “serial ghoster” Michelle Powers recently explained her mindset.
For Powers, it was a defense against people getting too close – a way to protect herself. Powers recalls thinking at one point before ghosting a romantic interest, “Cut him off now, before things go too far. Easier to mourn something that could have been than the alternative.”
Powers says that when “there was conflict, if I felt vulnerable, threatened or worried about letting somebody down,” she would ghost. Unfortunately for the ghoster, there are very few to no emotional consequences, so it can quickly become a self-protective habit.
It went well when she finally found the courage to let someone in and seek intimacy so well that they got married, in fact.
It’s not uncommon for people to ghost out of fear of intimacy, and it can be a difficult habit to break. Meanwhile, they’re leaving confusion and broken hearts behind – casualties of their unhealed path of destruction through the world of relationships.
People ghost because it’s so easy. There is no need to break up with someone when you can just cut them deeper with a hard block.
Ghosting is easier than having that uncomfortable convo for some people.
Ghosting is for losers who can’t deal with life. Grow up.
I’ve been ghosted 7 times. Once on Christmas Day. It’s the worst feeling in the world. One day you are making love and saying I love you and the next day she is gone. It hurts bad.
Ghosting is a strange concept. I have been guilty of it, and I’ve also been it’s victim. I guess it really depends on the situation, but its no fun being on the receiving end of it … especially with no explanation. Worse if you live in the same area as the person and run into them often! Makes you wonder why people don’t have the courage to say how they truly feel and keep it moving. Our society has gotten more and more degraded, over time. We no longer respect ourselves enough to be respectful of others. We have grown entitled, me me me, I don’t owe you shit attitude which is why I think most people have failed relationships. Any thoughts? Although I will close mine out by saying that sometimes people are really strange and weird and ghosting is absolutely necessary for protecting your privacy and peace but ultimately, I guess it’s really circumstantial. In a different (perfect) world, it wouldn’t be necessary to ghost one another because people would be decent 😝