I’ve been dating since I was 16 and the longest relationship I ever had was a year where I felt relatively comfortable. Nowadays I feel like I have to sleep with an eye open, so to speak, because my trust in others is gone. Too many heartbreaks, too much cheating, manipulation, dirty lies, and disappointments. Just all-around shittiness for nothing to show.
And despite all that, I’m still hopping on dating apps and meeting people on outings to find that someone. I want to believe that I can find someone compatible who I can trust. But even if I put my biases aside it still feels like a lost cause.
Does anybody have a similar experience? Has anyone gotten over this? I need some hope or advice, guys.
I’m in my mid thirties. But the feeling isn’t recent, it has been developing over the years now. I’ve gone so much time without dating, sometimes a few months, sometimes a whole year now for the same reasons.
I can only think of a single time where the wasn’t some bullshit going on. So much so that I’m now hesitant and half-expecting it. I mean, some shady shit happened again last week with someone I had just met. Within an hour of knowing me they were already showing signs of manipulation and caught them red-handed on a lie, it gave me the creeps.