It can be challenging to walk the tightrope between casual dating and a serious relationship in today’s dating environment. The prevalence of situationships has increased, leaving many people feeling insecure and emotionally spent.
These partnerships frequently lack defined commitments, limits, and labels, which can cause misunderstandings and annoyance. Situationships can rapidly become toxic and leave you feeling unhappy, even if they may first appear handy.
Therefore, it’s critical to learn how to spot and steer clear of situationships before they negatively impact your emotional health. You can increase your chances of establishing a deep and enduring relationship with someone who shares your beliefs and objectives by putting some tactics into practice.
Here 7 tips to avoid toxic situationships in the modern dating era
1. First, tell yourself what you want, what you’re willing to accept, and what you won’t accept.
2. To save time, find out in advance of the first date what they are prepared for. You can tell where things are headed if they say they’re ready for a relationship but prefer to “go with the flow” and engage in all the relationship activities without making a commitment.
3. If things aren’t working out, decide how long you’ll stay in a relationship before moving on. It’s time to move on if they give evasive responses about their willingness to be in a relationship.
4. Engage them in the dating process while maintaining a healthy distance (collect information and genuinely consider what you discover).
5. Consider whether you genuinely like them rather than letting your attraction be fuelled by your fear of their acceptance of you.
6. Steer clear of future pacing, romanticising, fantasising, and attempts to move the relationship along too quickly (healthy detachment).
7. It’s crucial to speak out and have an open discussion about your relationship with someone you’ve been dating for a while and are unsure of its direction. By doing this, you can prevent spending time in a relationship that might not be moving in the direction you want it to and help make expectations clear.